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M.E.C.A

MECA stands for Museum Education Collection Art, and it is a Mobile Application for exploring Public Art in San Francisco. San Francisco has a world-class collection of public artworks scattered all around the city. MECA helps adventurous users who thrived to discover public art in their surroundings. Using Augmented Reality, which is an innovative technology, it introduces public art to the users in a uniquely entertaining way and encourages them to collect the public art in their virtual museums.

Role

UX/UI Design

Tools

Illustrator, Photoshop, XD, After Effects

View Case Study

Problem Statement

Problem

Public art is important for the people who live in the city. However, many people do not understand the value of public art and aesthetic appreciation. In San Francisco, there are so many public art, but many local people are not interested in public arts, so they do not know about public arts in their hometown.

Solution

Provide an educational tool for exploring public arts in an entertaining way. Using some gaming concepts and new technologies like AR. This will help the users to make engagement to visit public arts spontaneously and increase their knowledge of culture and art in San Francisco.

Key Features

1. Virtual Museum

Users will be able to have their own virtual museum where they will have the opportunity to collect art they have discovered around the city. In addition, they will be able to navigate through it and invite friends to see “their” collections. Also, they can customize their museum such as changing museum styles, adding rooms and changing wall colors.

2. Gaming Feature

MECA provides users to explore public art in a fun way. When they find public arts and capture the arts, they can get some points. Because of many possibilities, they can get different points, and they can use the points for customizing their museum and discounting event tickets.

3. Weekly Reminder

Every week, MECA introduces a public art to users. This feature is one of the ways that users get interested in specific public art. Users can set the date and time when they get the reminder. If they visit the public art in the week, they can get double points.

4. Map Navigation

MECA helps users for finding public art with map function. MECA can recognize the location of users, and show the list of public art near by. They can use the location and direction hints to find public art easily.

5. AR Technology

The augmented reality technology provided by MECA will give users the opportunity to grab art they like and put them in their museum using the AR technology through a quick scan, and dragging motion gesture. Also, users can change the size and location of the art inside their museums.

6. Before & After

When they capture the art, users will discover this new feature that MECA offers. They will have the possibility to see how the environment looked prior to when the art was created. This feature is what makes this app different from its competitors. Showing the importance of public art is one of the main goals of MECA.

Competitors (Public Art)

  • All Public Art
  • Public Art
  • Art Around

  • All Public Art

    https://allpublicart.io/
    https://www.allpublicart.com/

    It is a platform that assists in the discovery of artwork in public spaces around the world. Along with discovery of public art it also provides a photo-sharing and e-commerce platform for public artists, street artists, businesses, and art organizations. They can post the exact location of their artworks and sell or purchase art related items.

    Pros

    – The app is compatible with all of devices (Both iOS and Android)
    – Website and Mobile App are available
    – Support public arts around world, so users learn artsaround world

    Cons

    – Not only discover public art, but also other purposes are included, so it is more complicated than other applications.
    – It is global, and it is not good at supporting local public arts.

  • Public Art

    http://www.publicart.io/
    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/public-art/id936484924

    Find street art anywhere with Public Art. Public Art pulls geotagged graffiti and street art images from around the world. Public Art has the largest active collection of images updated daily. You can find the images closest to you because Images are organized by location. Search by city name or address to discover graffiti in specific places. Google Maps users can access walking directions.

    Pros

    – Depending on users’ location, it gives users information of nearby public arts, so users can visit and see the nearby public arts easily

    Cons

    – Only available on the App Store for iOS devices. (Not for Android)
    – Not available website
    – Lack of educational purpose

  • Art Around

    http://theartaround.us./

    Find and map the art around you. It is a budding social project to map art in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Oakland and beyond. With ArtAround you search by the type of art or art venue you’re looking for and also make a museum alive by updating the map with new locations and information.

    Pros

    – Specialized public arts in several cities including San Francisco
    – Similar purpose, Good organize

    Cons

    – Only available on the App Store for iOS devices. (Not for Android)

Competitors (Augmented Reality)

  • BBC Civilisations AR
  • Amikasa
  • WallaMe

  • BBC Civilisations AR

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/taster/pilots/civilisations-ar/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVmxqe3UqZE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT-NJnV2K-s

    Discover History’s Treasures. The BBC’s first ever Augmented Reality app Civilisations AR brings art and culture direct to you from across the world.

    Pros

    – Augmented Reality application for art education purpose.
    – Gives users the ability to admire various artifacts, locating, rotating and resizing them as you see fit.
    – Gives users the educational information with audio guides when users touch the magic Spotlight.

    Cons

    – Supporting items are so limited now.

  • Amikasa – 3D Floor Planner with Augmented Reality

    http://www.amikasa.com
    https://vimeo.com/144339609

    Amikasa 3D Room Designer lets you build, restyle, and redecorate your rooms using furniture, flooring and wall colors from real brands.

    Pros

    – Provide to create custom virtual room for designing the virtual space.
    – Provide many different kinds of decorating options and furniture items.
    – Users can share the design with their friends for getting advices.

    Cons

    – It is focus on the interior design.
    – Only available for iOS devices.
    – It is not free app.

  • WallaMe – Augmented Reality

    http://walla.me/
    https://www.yo tube.com/watch?v=e5QT_cxvN34

    WallaMe lets you leave hidden messages in various locations around the world that can only be read by other people using the WallaMe app.

    Pros

    – Provides an interesting way to use augmented reality in public places (hide and find).
    – It makes users to visit some places with sharing features.

    Cons

    – It is not a 3D AR.
    – It is not an educational application.

Target Audience

Males and females under 45 who live in San Francisco with pre and post college degrees. MECA’s main target is those who moved recently to the city. Interested in art and technology and own smart phones which support AR technology.

Personas

  • Robert
  • Sydney
  • Anya

  • Robert

    33
    Physician
    San Francisco

    STORY

    Robert likes to visit art, and he wants to have a motivation to visit San Francisco’s public arts more often. After his divorce, he lost common friends with his wife who all together visited museums and galleries. However, he met someone who is enthusiastic about public art, so he likes to visit public arts during his day off.

    NEEDS

    – Encouragement to visit public arts frequently
    – Finding public arts easily in the big city

    GOALS

    – Visit the city’s public arts regularly
    – Use a good navigation system to find public arts

  • Sydney

    25
    Engineer
    San Francisco

    STORY

    Sydney likes to walk around the city, and tries to identify and find public art to visit during her walking sessions. She usually takes photos of the public art to keep memories of them. She wants to have an app to make her organized archive of these artworks and read about them.

    NEEDS

    – Captures and keeps her favorite art
    – Knows and finds information about public arts

    GOALS

    – Use some new technologies to capture her art works
    – Use an education tool and educate herself about public arts

  • Anya

    20
    Student
    San Francisco

    STORY

    Anya is an international student who is so enthusiastic about art history and interior design. She likes to play games applied innovative technologies such as VR and AR. Recently, she is getting interested in public art in San Francisco, so she likes to use applications related public art that is applied new technology.

    NEEDS

    – Want to find and use a good entertaining tool related the city and art
    – Try to use new technologies for enjoying public art

    GOALS

    – Make an empathic connection with applications of San Francisco and its art
    – Enjoy a new, competitive and creative game related public art

Information Architecture

Wireframe

User Story & Task Flow

  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3

  • Robert received a notification of weekly reminder and checked it. Now, he wants to this week’s public art which is ‘Double L Excentric Gyratory’. He knows the art is located in Civic Center area, but he does not know the exact location. He is in the Civic Center Station now. He uses the app to get information about the art and find the art with navigation function.

    Task 1: Find a public art using the app

  • Sydney is jogging in San Francisco Bay Trail in Embarcadero area. When she passes Rincon Park, she saw one of the popular public arts which is ‘Cupid’s Span’. That was her first time to capture the art, so she uses the app to capture it and to see the before & after view.

    Task 2: Add a live artwork to the museum, and see the view without the artwork (Before & After)

  • Anya visited an art gallery yesterday. She was inspired by the interior design of the gallery, and wanted to change a wall color of one of the rooms in her virtual museum. She opens the app for customizing her museum. She purchases a color with points, and changes the wall color.

    Task 3: Customize the museum

Final Design

Branding

Color & Typography

Logo Design

Proof of Concept

  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3

  • Task 1: Find a public art using the app

    Robert received a notification of weekly reminder and checked it. Now, he wants to this week’s public art which is ‘Double L Excentric Gyratory’. He knows the art is located in Civic Center area, but he does not know the exact location. He is in the Civic Center Station now. He uses the app to get information about the art and find the art with navigation function.

    Prototype

  • Task 2: Add a live artwork to the museum, and see the view without the artwork (Before & After)

    Sydney is jogging in San Francisco Bay Trail in Embarcadero area. When she passes Rincon Park, she saw one of the popular public arts which is ‘Cupid’s Span’. That was her first time to capture the art, so she uses the app to capture it and to see the before & after view.

    Prototype

  • Task 3: Customize the museum

    Anya visited an art gallery yesterday. She was inspired by the interior design of the gallery, and wanted to change a wall color of one of the rooms in her virtual museum. She opens the app for customizing her museum. She purchases a color with points, and changes the wall color.

    Prototype

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