It was inspired by a friend of mine, My friend Jane had a very smart dog, Pupu, but he passed away unexpectedly in August 2021.It was hard for her to accept sending Pupu to be cremated.She said: "I want to see Pupu wake up, I want to take Pupu to my new house and introduce Pupu to you!"
So I began to think, can we design an AR experience, use the appearance and personality data of pets before their death, and combine virtual reality technology, so that pets can survive on the Internet, they will recognize their old toys, they can make new friends, meet the owner's new pets or new family members, and so on.
I designed an experience where as soon as the owner gets home wear the slippers, the pressure sensor picks up the signal and the whole AR experience begins.
(Currently AR and pressure sensing are implemented, but connectivity between the two is not realized)
research
- pet Life
According to the White Paper on China's Pet Industry in 2020 released by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, the number of cats and dogs in urban areas in China exceeded 100 million in 2021, and the number of pet owners reached 62.94 million, both of which are on the rise year by year.
Content about pets has long been popular on Chinese social media platforms.In other countries, people have created social accounts for their pets on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
research
- pet Death
In the modern society, with the improvement of people's economic level, the change of ideas and the constant pursuit of new things, raising pets has become one of the great interests of some families.
At the same time, the pet funeral industry has become increasingly popular. People are no longer satisfied with just holding a funeral for their pets; instead, they seek ways to have their pets accompany them for a longer time. For example, turning pet fur into diamonds, cloning pets, and so on
competiton product
Existing apps only focus on the entertainment of pets and their owners during the pet's lifetime, without addressing the emotional needs of people after their pets pass away.
User Research
design proposal
I want to design an AR system that can be automatically triggered when people return to the scene where they spend time with their pets - home.
In this system, people can interact with pets, and the data retains the appearance and personality of pets, and the data can constantly learn and develop itself, for example, AR pets may feel jealous of their owners' new pets. In this way pets can live with us in another way.
Experience deisgn
From the moment the owner steps into the home, he enters a space for pet interaction, and the experience ends at the moment of sleep.
Therefore, indoor slippers are chosen as the trigger for the entire experience. The scenes include:
1. Putting on slippers triggers pet appearance.
2. Interacting with old toys with the pet.
3. Introducing new family members to the pet.
4. Personal social time with the pet.
5. Removing slippers marks the end of the experience.
C4D
C4D is used to model pet images and record simple pet interaction videos.
Unity
Unity is used to implement AR effect into reality on mobile platforms.
Arduino
Arduino is used to implement the built-in pressure sensor in the slippers and implement the transmission signal
Python
Receives pressure signal then project specific videos (which should be interactive AR).
Soft&hard
In the modern society, with the improvement of people's economic level, the change of ideas and the constant pursuit of new things, raising pets has become one of the great interests of some families.
At the same time, the pet funeral industry has become increasingly popular. People are no longer satisfied with just holding a funeral for their pets; instead, they seek ways to have their pets accompany them for a longer time. For example, turning pet fur into diamonds, cloning pets, and so on
