cedar - thesis project 01
the concept.
Our team was asked to conceptualize and create a brand & business model with a use case for an augmented reality application as well as create a functioning prototype.
We settled on a concept targeted towards helping arborists, landscape architects, and homeowners with tree-related inquiries and issues. The app would allow a resident to take a photo of and scan a tree on their property to reveal information about the type of tree, age height, and overall health.
This functionality would enable the user to send a report if needed to an arborist that would include the details and location of the tree. The goal would be to help residents identify potential issues with trees on their property or in public spaces and easily relay the information to an arborist.
the challenge.
After research and exploration we decided to focus the prototype on the functionality with a resident as a user. We discovered that homeowners face concerns in regards to the status of trees on and around their property so focusing on empathizing within said demographic would be beneficial. We marketed it as an application centred around helping and informing users who don’t have the specialized knowledge to determine issues but still want to help, as well as to possibly spark curiosity within residents about tree species, information and health within parks and their neighbourhoods.
the prototype.
To conceptualize our our idea we made an orthographic foam core tree with different foliage patterns on each side to be AR targets in Unity. This prototype shows the basic functionality of the application by having CEDAR scan the tree and animate facts about that tree as an overlay.
Unity3D Prototype
A look into our Unity prototype.
Outcomes.
Our group faced many challenges during this project as it was our first time using Unity for augmented reality. A lot of experimentation was involved with Unity targets and with our physical prototype in order to have it functional and for the UI to look and behave the way we planned. This was overall a very challenging, rewarding and exciting project to work on.