The project in this module was very fun and interesting as it inspired speculative design, it forced us to look into the future and create something that is ahead of our time. This meant that we had to incorporate some sort of technology that has yet to exist or is still in the works.

This led conducting research into the smart home sector and there I discovered that many devices have issues pairing with other devices due to them being of third parties. After I uncovered this, I researched into how that bridge can be gapped and thankfully there is a system in progress that will fix this issue. This led to me creating a smart home AR lens that allows users to easily control their smart home devices seamlessly thanks to the incorporation of the Matter system and local connections; these features allow the AR lens to perform task with different brands/ ecosystems, it also allows it to perform automations without the need of the internet.

My research showcased that not all smart homes have this new system and that made me want to step further into the direction of my idea because I realised that there was a gap in the smart home market that is waiting to be closed, and I feel as though my product/ service can fit in there perfectly. The user interview I conducted for this project was also very helpful as it helped me empathise with the queries and costs that smart home hub users face and that is what pushed me to go ahead with the Matter system. Throughout my project I received valuable feedback from both my tutor and my peers, and without them I wouldn’t have achieved my goal of creating this AR. The reason why I chose a lens for my AR is because this entire module is about looking into the future and asking ourselves “What if?”; and what better than what if AR lenses were a thing in the real world, and everyone could afford to purchase it.

Unlike the other module I feel as though this module provided us with a lot of valuable tools and skills for this project; having Ronan in some of the lectures giving us tutorials was very helpful. Getting to experience the first-hand VR headset was cool too. When I created my nav bar I saw how some of the animations weren’t as smooth as I anticipated them to be and this sort of brought me down, but then I realised that it’s just Figma being Figma. Throughout the project went very smoothly for me, I did face a few issues along the way but through trial and error I overcame them and now I am very happy with the outcome of my AR.

Overall, I really enjoyed this module because it inspired us to look into the future. Designing an AR/ VR was something new for me and it wasn’t as complex as I thought it’d be. I feel like my main takeaway from this module was the lecture on speculative design and Alex McDowell’s talk because they all talked about looking into the future and using storytelling to convey your ideas.

Something I would do differently is plan my time more carefully to avoid last-minute rushes, especially when it came to refining my design and completing deeper research.