I was a UX resource for a three month long partnership with Microsoft to launch two AR/VR experiences for Earth Day at Animal Kingdom centered around the Purple Martins species of bird. We worked hack-a-thon style when the Microsoft engineers were in Orlando to team up on the project in a collaborative environment on-site at Animal Kingdom.
It was a truly amazing experience!
Whiteboarding & Sketching
AR Flight Game Screens
I created these game flows and overlays to be used in a real time environment by Guests at the Earth day event at Animal Kingdom. Guests were able to "play" a Purple Martin by locating tokens that represented food and water and taking it back to the nest. This was a fun way to help educate the public about the behaviors of the Purple Martin and cultivated awareness around their conservation.
The engineers at Microsoft developed the game in Unity using machine learning data from the flight paths of the birds.
3D Elements
I taught myself Blender to be able to produce some low poly 3D elements for the game
In-Nest Experience
I created a second AR app that allowed the Guests to be able to scan a nest gourd and view the activity within. We created flows for both outside at the actual nests and inside at Rafiki's Planet Watch at the learning kiosks. The engineers at Microsoft designed and built special 3D printed camera housings that sit undetected in the nests. They then utilized Machine Learning to trigger the cameras to begin recording when a certain activity is detected in the nest.
