What’s The Big Idea?
Ideated initially in 2019 and revisited in 2022 after/during the grand Covid pandemic. Spelunk is gamified socialisation. Originally it gave an instinctive for introverts and your serial flakers to actually follow through with those scheduled meetups. Now it helps even the average person reintegrate as they emerge from their caves back into the world as it reopens.

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Overview
So after the fifth watch of my favorite Netflix Orginal Neo Yokio I came up with an idea based on the found in the second episode. In episode 2 Kaz’s (yes I can say relating to him in a lot of ways) friend Hellen goes Hikikomori. Hikikomori is believe it or not is something very real. It is defined as the total withdrawal from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement.

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Why Introverts as a Target Market?
The target market this project is gear towards is mainly introverts. Introvert describes a person who tends to turn inward mentally. Introverts sometimes avoid large groups of people, feeling more energized by time alone. This persona is complete understandable and acceptable but such attributes can infringe on the relationships of them and individuals consider as friends and family. English Author John Donne quote no man is an island; meaning we all depend on someone. With this truth taken into question it is logical and accurate to believe that just because
introverts may not be the most social individuals does not mean that they are immune to loneliness.

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Archetypes of Target Market (Primary and Secondary Users)
Within the Target Market their is the primary and secondary audience these consist of personas that embody individuals that will find the results of the project useful and a meaningful implementation into their daily routine.

The first is the Primary Audience of Introverts. The secondary audience consist of the Procrastinators and flakers who are individuals unable to allotted the need time to sustain relationships between them and the ones they love.

The Introvert
This is Jaden embodies the young male within his early twenties moving from home to college. At his current age 22 years of age he originates from Yorkville, Canada which is in the suburbs of his district. This meaning solidarity and a level of isolation is a familiar practice. Now having to attend University in New York he finds himself in disarray as his environment has changed. His constant scroll through Instagram now shows him parties within the area of his apartment and feature classmates from a few of his lectures. His daily habits include attending class with occasional visits to the library and daydreaming. He however desires to breakout of that shell and live his college years to the fullest.

The Flaker
Galiee is a English teen 17 years of age that attends a High School at Yorkshire. He is quite the flaker and always seems to put off plans to interact with his family or friends to play videos games in his room or watch God knows what on the computer screen at 1 AM in the morning. Despite living with his parents he rarely has any interactions with them and can not seem to have a lasting conversation with them even if he tried. His daily routines include playing video games, surfing the web for memes and sleeping even out of boredom.

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The Head High of Ambition
Picture this the flower in the vase from beauty and the beast coming to life through the use of holograms. Only the flower is a heart and the initial image hits mirrors within the base of the vase creating a simulation of all to enjoy. Its coffee table, physical representation of relation and a extrinsic motivator that gamifies socialisation. Seem too good to be true doesn’t. When in 2019 what was  on my mind was things like production cost and feasibility as long as it was possible I figured why not aim for it. I even sketch up prototype of how I thought the components would go.

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When Talent Meets Timing
A while had passed and I came back to project with fresh eyes and new tricks up my sleeve. I aimed for the stars so now I just landed on the clouds when reality kicked in. Limitations however do not always have be discouraging. My Great Mother said sometimes disappointment is for the better. Rather take the failure of my first idea to heart it gave an opportunity to encourage a new way to approach the task. To overcome the complexity of the physical first interactive piece initially had. I came up with much simpler concept. I decide to make the physical aspect a light weight coin with a stand that can be 3D printed.

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I Guess Disappoint Truly Is For The Better
The coin would be a key to opening an AR hologram of the heart that can be viewed with mobile devices. What initially felt like disappointment allow me to make my project more accessible, drastically improved it mobility and feasible so much so that I have a copy of it myself.

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Mess Around, Find Out
A big thing about this project was I didn’t want it to be hypothetical. I wanted the actual product in my hand to show to everyone. I wanted something to live beyond the pages and pictures. With that being said I had my 3D model from Tinker Cad printed as in 3D Printed. I was excited and to my surprise the staple of the heart coin came out beautifully the holding case... not so much. I learnt in my exploration that sometimes the product may not come out as accurately as you hoped at least on a small scale level.

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Time To Get Technical
After completing my physical medium for this case study it was time to get into the meat of the project. By this I meant clearly defining and creating my framework for things like the actual hologram, the information architecture, and the mobile companion app.

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The Realm of AR
After working on some of the framework of information structure for the app I hopped into Blender to create the 3D model of the AR experience. First off I would like to say keep in mind I have not taken 3D model class so I was how you say “fighting  for my life” for a few days but none the less persistence pays off.
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One Step Closer
So the rough of the model was well on its way the next step was for the time being  to make the AR experience connect with coin. This was really wonky to say the least using Adobe AERO but I managed to snag a presentable moment. Of the desire result hopefully through coding I will be able to conquer the image target issue I’m facing.

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Please Try Not To Gag
So I had an initial design for this app and although embarrassing I think it is important to show realistically the my progression as a designer. My first attempt was done in illustrator and quiet honestly I had not even give Figma a chance prior to revisiting this. Despite my first attempt being one of learning it did give me a basic idea I want to go.

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Figma That Out
To think I was so proud of the old design, I really thought I was doing something. Looking back with a more developed  I eye for design it should be a crime something so crude  had the label of high fidelity attached to it. Never the least I revamped my previous design with help of Figma  and I would definitely say I came up with something more appetizing at least for the time being.

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Getting to the Good Stuff
Since my revision was done in Figma this allowed for prototyping.  It was another opportunity to display my knowledge of the software while also making it feel more real. I enjoyed messing around creating this!

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Conceptual Marketing Page

Hello Coding My Old Friend
Since I truly wanted my project to be a real world code prototype that lived beyond the pages I found myself dusting off the old boots and jumping into some coding. However I had to learn a the new language of A-Frame then enjoyed a gruelling battle with 8th wall.

Great Things Take Time
Coding in A-frame was pretty easy once you got the hang of it; however coding in 8thWall a completely different animal. The problem with taking this jump is understanding the actual functionality for a while the hologram either didn’t work, wasn’t animated for didn’t recognize the real world 3D model. However I like solving puzzles so success was inevitable. If you scan the QR code below and point the camera at this image you'll be able to experince it too ;)