Barbershop Storefront AR Experience

Inspired by a 1960s postcard of Downtown Sudbury, taken at night, showing neon signs projecting from the buildings. What an exciting and immersive experience it must have been for pedestrians of the time. These neon-adorned storefronts created fun and lively spaces.

I wanted to bring back some of that storefront excitement using Google's Geospatial Creator to create Storefront AR Experiences for retailers to attract pedestrians to their brand. I pitched the idea to a local barbershop owner as a unique way to bring more people to the front of the store, allowing them to interact with the AR scene and to book an appointment.

What it does

The Northern Barbers Storefront AR Experience allows pedestrians to scan a QR code (displayed in the barbershop window) and become immersed in an interactive 3d experience using their iPhones. The key elements of the experience are a large spinning neon barber pole and a call-to-action button for booking an appointment. Tapping the button loads the matching website, allowing the user to book the appointment.

How I built it

First step was to visit the local library archive to find examples of neon signs from the past. The next major step was to quickly learn how to create 3D objects using Blender. Then, using Google Geospatial Creator in Aero, these 3D models were imported and placed at an exact physical location, triggers and animations were added - creating an immersive AR experience.

Challenges I ran into

The main challenge was getting the neon tubes to appear to glow and radiate their light onto nearby real-world objects. Everything else progressed smoothly.

Accomplishments that I’m proud of

I'm especially proud of myself for learning a bunch of new tools, and getting excited about creating immersive AR experiences. I love this stuff.

What I learned

I learned that it's very important to consider how your AR scenes interact with the real world. Be aware of not obstructing views or blocking access. I learned that there is so much more to learn about creating captivating AR experiences.

What's next for Northern Barbers Storefront AR Experience

Dream up new ways to engage with pedestrians, in safe and fun ways.

Built With

• aero
• blender
• geospatialcreator
• spline