Wildlife Crossing AR
Augmented Reality campaign in partnership with Snap and Annenberg Foundation, raising awareness for the building of a wildlife crossing for animals affected by highways.
UX/UI Design
My Role
InCitu
Client
2 Weeks
Timeline
After years of planning, researching, and fundraising, the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing has begun and it aims to protect and restore wildlife habitats that were damaged by the giant ten-lane 101 highway in southern California, impacting the habitat of mountain lions and other species in the area and pushing them towards extinction.
inCitu, a social-impact software application that uses augmented reality to democratize urban planning, in its partnership with Snap Inc. and the Annenberg Foundation, sought to create a new AR experience that will allow users around the world to visualize the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing and learn about its significance, the construction plans, and the impact it will have on a variety of species.
At-a-Glance
Discovery
Interviews
I kicked off the project with a series of stakeholder interviews, understanding the requirements and the goals of the project, learning about the key objectives of this campaign.
Define
Aiming to engage with people of varying degrees of familiarity with the cause and the project I looked for a way to present the information in a way that would tell the story of this project, dividing it into three main chapters, The Cause, The Plan & The Impact, making sure the information comes in bite-size, so it can keep a steady rhythm creating an engaging educational experience.
Design
On-Site Experience
Welcome to the cause
The welcome screen shows the crossing model anchored to real-world position, presenting the three chapters with a Snapchat-inspired menu. The default state is the first chapter - about the cause. Each chapter highlights clickable points of interest related to the chosen topic.
Points of interest cards
Tapping a point of interest pulls up an info card on a fixed position screen space, displaying bits of information telling the story of the cause, the plan, or the impact. Users have the freedom to dive deeper or stay on the surface level.
Meeting the impacted animals
In the impact chapter, a secondary menu pulls up and offers to look into the impact on different species, the current challenges, and the benefits of the crossing. An animated model of each animal is displayed in its habitat on location offering an intimate connection with them.
Calibrating table top experience
The off-site tabletop experience starts with the calibration process - once a surface is identified, users are prompted to place the model on it.
Off-Site Experience
Welcome to the cause
The welcome screen on the tabletop version offers the 3D model of the crossing's environment and the model of the crossing.
The launch as part of the 7th annual P-22 week, the wildlife crossing AR experience was revealed in its initial stages and made it to multiple news channels and media outlets nationwide.
At the reveal, many participants got to interact with the experience on-site visualize the bridge on location, and celebrate the construction that has already begun.
Outcome
Meet the impacted animals
The animals are invited to the tabletop experience - offering the same intimate encounter with the impacted animals but in their home, allowing for a closer look even when not on the crossing location.
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Undestanding the users
Following the kick-off meeting with my clients at InCitu, I received compiled research and data about the project, going through hundreds of pages outlining years of research made by the Annenberg Foundation in preparation for the construction of this project. This research has detailed the current state of the wildlife surrounding the 101 highway, affecting many animals, some on the verge of extinction.
I also read through the construction and the design of the crossing and the special requirements of the design and materials. The task was understanding how we can take the most important ideas from this research, and find a way to tell the story through this AR experience. The first step was understanding who are we telling this story to:
