WALKING THE DOG
UI + UX. Ideation. Research.
Low-Fidelity Prototype.
"Walking the Dog" is a mobile app designed to enrich the museum experience for both on-site and remote visitors. It enables users, including individual visitors and groups, to explore museums through the perspective of a robotic dog. The project addresses the challenge of creating engaging museum experiences for remote users, considering the ongoing pandemic and the need to accommodate immunocompromised individuals and health concerns in public spaces. The goal is to sustain the cultural sector's significance in the UK by using collaborative technology to bridge the gap between on-site and remote museum experiences while considering the potential for future lockdowns.
Proposal
"Walking the Dog" offers a unique museum experience by blending physical and remote user collaboration. Inspired by the George Square system, it utilizes Boston Dynamics' Spot the Dog to create an adventure storyline where both physical and remote visitors collaborate to shape the museum experience, all without requiring remote users to be physically present.
LTR: Mockup, sketches
Modality and Design
Initially, Walking the Dog required remote users to be on-site but shifted to accommodate the growing number of remote museumgoers, making the exhibit more accessible online.
The application uses personal devices, bone-conduction earphones, and the Spot robot to connect users via GPS and Wi-Fi, enabling communication and information sharing.
On-site users can livestream their exploration, share location-based data with remote users, and scan physical space discoveries for context. Remote users control Spot and explore Creswell Crags, with an emphasis on collaboration. Spectators can join sessions with limited interaction capabilities, respecting the privacy of the primary users.
This design fosters a collaborative and engaging museum experience for both on-site and remote participants while maintaining privacy and user engagement.
Process of interaction between users
Enhancing Telepresence and Communication
Users benefit from various communication features like text, voice calls, and AI-generated responses. Feedthrough awareness, displaying each user's actions, is crucial. The robot dog's physical presence gives them an advantage with the on-site user, but the at-home user lacks awareness of their visiting partner.
To address this, a mini-map with their location as an icon provides telepresence for at-home users, helping them orient themselves. However, the idea of using directional arrows was abandoned to avoid potential user confusion. The design focuses on ensuring seamless communication and enhancing the experience for both on-site and at-home users in a collaborative museum setting.
Both at-home and on-site users share communication features, including voice calls, text-to-speech messaging, and potential augmented reality enhancements.
LTR: Chat system for at-home users, chat options for on-site users
Minimap can be expanded for greater visibility!
Non-functional Figma Prototype
Three distinct Walking the Dog prototypes were developed in Figma to accommodate different use cases. These low-fidelity prototypes illustrate the app's general flow and style. Future iterations will incorporate an earthy color palette and Creswell Crags photography.
At-Home User
On-Site User
Spectator
