Polina Kabakova
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AR / Spatial Experience

Overview

An AR app designed for a conference setting that visualizes the changes taking place in the brain at each phase of a migraine. I created the functional specification for both the app and the on-site installation experience.

AR migraine visualization, brain sculpture and tablet

My role

Created the functional specification for the app and the on-site installation experience, and designed for adapting the conference build into a medical-education web app.

Project tags

  • Immersive / AR
  • Spatial Interfaces
  • Prototyping
  • User Testing
  • Human-Centred

Problem

Complex neuroscience is hard to convey on a booth floor. Novice visitors needed to explore an unfamiliar spatial experience unassisted, in a noisy, high-traffic environment, without instructions.

Process

Self-guided design

Implemented intuitive spatial cues so novice users could explore the entire AR installation unassisted.

Booth layout

Planning document for the AR installation and the conference booth experience.

Illustration of the conference booth: a head model with an exposed brain on a glowing podium, two visitors at iPads on stands, a TV screen behind them and a round carpet underfoot. Numbered markers match the notes.
  1. TV screenPlays the attract state to draw people into the booth.
  2. Signage & booth graphicsBackdrop, posters, floor and directional graphics, and a sign that explains what the experience is.
  3. “Do not touch” signA small sign, if visitors need reminding not to touch the model.
  4. Podium graphicDraws people into the booth toward the AR experience.
  5. PodiumGlows at the top and bottom.
  6. CarpetMarks the standing area.

Physical prototyping

Validated the spatial requirements by user-testing with a physical prototype of the installation before build.

Tools:

  • Spatial Prototyping

Physical prototype test

Determining the optimal distance between the iPad and the model and the height of the podium.

Booth layout diagram. Top view: two visitors hold iPads aimed at a head sculpture on a podium. Side view: the podium is 42 inches tall and the iPad stand 41 inches, with the iPad 20 inches from the model.
AR test through the iPad: a translucent head with a blue brain overlaid on a foam ball set on a cardboard box, with a 3.375 inch measurement marked Prototype setup in the studio: an iPad on a tripod pointed at a foam ball resting on a cardboard box on a stand

Emerging tech, built to last

Pushed into spatial computing early, translating a human-centred process into a medium with few established patterns. I designed the conference build so it could be adapted into a lasting medical-education web app.

AR app functional specification

The attract state on the iPad, annotated for development: the AR brain cycles through regions while key facts fade in and out.

Annotated spec page 0.0 Homepage (Attract State): an iPad shows the AR brain on the head model with two fact callouts and an Explore Migraine AR button. Notes explain that the projection cycles through brain areas and that the text fades in and out on its own timing.

Medical-education web app

The conference experience adapted for the web, with annotated wireframes for the desktop landing page and the 360px mobile views.

Annotated wireframe 0.1 Landing Page for the Migraine Pathophysiology Explorer: title, Launch Explorer button, a rotating message carousel, the head model and a References button, with numbered notes describing each action.
Annotated 360px-wide mobile wireframes: the intro screen with pagination dots in place of the side navigation, and the menu listing Intro, Prodrome, Aura, Headache, Postdrome, Interictal and Feedback sections, plus Provide Feedback and References links.

Impact

A conference-floor experience that made complex neuroscience approachable, and durable beyond the event.

Fully self-guided

Visitors explored the installation on their own, with no staff needed.

Tangible science

The four phases of a migraine shown in a visual format that’s easy to understand.

Beyond the booth

Lived on after the conference as a medical-education web app.

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