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Kodama 3DGo
Product and Interaction Design
Overview
The emerging start-up Kodama has developed a patent-pending 3D tracking technology and designed the Kodama 3DGo, an innovative, tangible interface for creating, playing and interacting with 3D content.
Role
I was in charge of designing product and interaction for a connected device oriented to the user experience, overcoming the technical limitations of the product (such as calibration processes) through design solutions and gamified interactive user guides.
Details
Kodama is an award-winning start-up supported by BOOSTVC, the leading AR/VR accelerator in Silicon Valley. I was involved in the early stages of the company, from concept ideation to advanced manufacturing test runs. The product was developed over a period of 18 months.
Kodama 3DGo
3D mouse to create and
manipulate with freehand movement
Problem Space
The digital world is coming closer to the real world with the development of mixed reality, including virtual-reality and augmented-reality technologies, but we still limit ourselves to 2D interactive tools. It is time to re-think our input devices.
According to the research by Azoth Analytics, the global AR & Mixed Reality market is expected to grow more than 9 times by 2023, over the forecast period of 2018-2023
Direction
Challenge
The goal was to design an easy 3D manipulation and control tool for a new generation of creators who are not 3D software professionals or technical users. For a consumer-electronic product, however, the novelty of the core technology and interface present a barrier to adoption, so, as a designer, understanding the overall principle of the technology was essential in solving some potential technical barriers for users. Additionally, because this product was designed for younger people, developing a friendly and playful visual language was crucial.
Design Consideration
· The main compatible device is a tablet computer.
· Target users are the young creative generation. · 3DGo can be anything in the digital world.Product Detail
How It Works
Switch on the Holodock
Pick up the 3DGo
Play and create!
Interaction Of Connected Product
- Connectivity with a screen-based device
- Interactive user guide for Kodama games
Kodama 3DGo is a 3D game platform compatible with the full range of smart display devices. The target user of Kodama 3DGo is more likely to be a tablet owner than a laptop user, as there are ample entertainment and educational options for this customer segment. Thus, we chose the tablet ecosystem (iPads) as the primary platform for Kodama content, and I designed the user experience around it. As the experience targets beginning users of this product, I created a gamified interactive user guide with Unity that intuitively engages users in a playful way, from the physical unboxing to the digital discovery of Kodama’s games and ‘Help’ features.
Kodama 3DGo With Game Apps
Product Detail
Press
“ Kodama Pixar Do It Yourself “
“ Easy to Use 3D Mouse, 3DGo “
What I Learned
Designing and testing a product that relies on constantly evolving emerging technology presents many challenges. Flexible and quickly evolving design solutions were required at every stage. Anticipating possible solutions for a variety of use cases and coordinating and prioritising tasks with the rest of the team in response to technological advances gave me a broader view of the design process. Building an interaction around new technologies requires a deep understanding of limitations and possibilities in order to create the best user experience. Developing the design strategy and designing the product validated again the importance of working closely with user communities.