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Lighthouse
Overview
Lighthouse is a creative solution to reduce bird-to-building collisions and aim to raise public awareness on this critical issues. We decided to apply a transparent UV liquid on the building, which could be seen by birds to avoid collisions. Then, we prototyped and tested two methods using UV light and AR technology respectively, in order to make this liquid visible to human beings, meanwhile, providing an aesthetics feeling. The prototypes received positive reviews from investors in the end.
Context
Designed @Celu Studio during internship,
April, 2020 - July, 2020
Roles & Responsibilities
Material preparations; Setting scenes; Testing; Releasing for internal beta testing
Tool
Vuforia, Unity, Adobe creative suite
Tag
#AR
Background
1 Critical conservation issue
Every year between 100 million and one billion birds die from collisions with buildings.
2 Products of UV liquid on market
Research shows birds respond to special UV material. There are different products on market help to prevent bird from hitting on the transparent windows.
Proposal
We decided to apply this UV liquid on all-glass buildings so that the material can be visible to birds and prevent them from hitting. However, the other question is how we can make it visible for human beings
Method 1 See with naked eyes
We can try to make this material visible. For example, to realize the effect by adding some fluorescent materials.
• What extra material to add?
• Implementation feasibility on buildings
Method 2 See through AR technology
We can utilize AR technology on the mobile device so that people are able to see those transparent pattens.
Problems to solve
As out target is those tall all-glass buildings, it's difficult for us to achieve the result that we want
Method 1 See with naked eyes
• How to make the material visible
• Implementation feasibility on buildings
Method 2 See through AR technology
• How to locate buildings in AR setting
• How to attach texture onto buildings
• How to test
Zoom in to Method 2
At that time, I was assigned to test the second idea and check out whether it worked or not. I came out with four different ideas using different tool and tested viability
Idea 1 Track the environment and place the texture on the building
Tool:
Vuforia(Area Target), Unity
Problems:
• Transparent glass couldn't be tracked with Area Target function in the Vuforia. Therefore, when I lift the camera up , the track lost
• Environment could only be detected within a short distance
Idea 2 Use relative locations between the mobile device and the building
Tool:
Mapbox, Unity
Problems:
• Low accuracy of positions with meters' deviation
Idea 3 Create a QR-code building
Tool:
OpenCV
Problems:
• It would be difficult to control all influencing factors such like light, background, other environmental interference and the marker size
• Low accuracy when standing further
• Budget for placing all markers in the building
• A poor aesthetics for the building
Idea 4 Get a reference(A observation room or frame)
Tool:
Vuforia(Object Track), Unity
The 4th idea's development
I decided to develop the fourth idea, which was to create a bird-view window in front of users as a reference and locate the pattern based on the referred object's position
Bird-view Window
Material: wood frame, flyscreen
Integration Process
• Made the pattern illustration
• Set scene in the Unity
• Tested and adjusted in Xcode
• Released on apple store for internal beta testing
Display
Finally, we came out two different prototypes using method1(see with naked eyes) and method2(see through AR technology)
Method 1 See with naked eyes
Tool: fluorescent material, UV light
Method 2 See through AR technology
Tool: Unity, Vuforia
Reflection
While there are still a lot of improvements in both methods, I learned a lot through this experience
Further improvements on each method
For Method1, we need to think about:
• How to implement on the whole building
• How to set the light for such a big area
• How to prevent harm of UV lights to people
For Method2, we need to think about:
• How to track and display the effect at night
• How to deal with the influence of changing sunshine lighting
What I learned
• Be a fast learner
• Be a creative problem solver
• Be able to work under stress
During this project, I also learned how to prototype quickly and test my ideas within short time in an effective way.
Thank you
✍️
Positive feedback from my manager @Celu Studio:
"Eva is a highly motivated individual who is able to work with an impressive level of autonomy! She assisted CELU studio with a number of projects, requiring a range of different softwares and skills: illustrator/photoshop, as well as 3D modelling and AR software. She worked hard and had good problem solving skills. It was a pleasure to work with her!"
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