MeetMe AR is a social media app that promotes social activities through location-based AR interactions and personalized avatars.
2024
Overview
This was a project borne out of RealityShift 2024, a pitching competition where our teams envisioned a more ethical future through the use of XR technology. We recognized the prevalent issue of social media trapping users in a cycle of endless scrolling, resulting in an abandonment of real experiences for the allure of technology.
To address this, we decided to create a social media platform that encourages users to live through experiences with their friends, not vicariously through them.
Problem
How many of you are aware of the time you spend on your phone? And, have you thought about how that replaces your time connecting with reality? The way social media is currently curated is not socially responsible. It looks to exploit users, resulting in people staying locked up, scrolling on their phones, and feeling satisfied experiencing life through others’ posts.
Solution
MeetMe AR is a social media platform that encourages users to meet up and engage in real life activities through location-based AR media, where users can view and interact with friends’ AR content at specific real-world locations. Instead of experiencing life through their friends’ posts, they will be experiencing life through their friends’ shared experiences.
Research
A while ago, people were participating in a social media trend of making “core-core” videos. These videos would act as a wake-up call to its viewers: they start off with a high energy video of someone doing something exciting, only to reveal that the viewer is actually just watching the video on their phone while huddled up in bed. Based on this trend and general discussions of social media, this generation understands the harm of being sucked into our phones. However, they have a hard time breaking the mold.
Process
For this project, I played the role of a project manager and spatial designer, while leaving the UI designs to my teammates. (It was an interesting experience being in a team of only designers).
Phone UI done by my teammates
Next Steps
Gaussian splatting
Our vision for the future of MeetMe AR expands further than what was covered within the scope of this competition. We ultimately want to include gaussian splatting in order to make 4D content a reality. Doing so will allow for more immersive content to be viewed on site. Rather than just looking at the media being posted by friends, users will be able to fully interact with it. Sharing experiences asynchronously through MeetMe AR will preserve the essence of an individual’s unique experience while enriching it with a fully immersive AR experience of their friends’ shared moments.
4D content taken from GMIX.ai
Personalized avatars
We also plan to introduce personalized avatars that users will be able to use to represent themselves in the AR space. These avatars will be customizable to the user’s liking, allowing them to express themselves in a way that is unique to them. This will be achieved through a partnership with Genies, a company that specializes in creating digital avatars.
