XR You serious?

Inspiration

The inspiration for XR You Serious? came from the growing need to combat sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy habits in a fun, engaging way. We wanted to leverage mixed reality to create a humorous, interactive experience that encourages users to adopt healthier habits while keeping them entertained. The idea of a quirky avatar giving witty feedback was born out of the desire to make habit formation both effective and enjoyable.

What it does

XR You Serious? is a mixed reality app that tracks users' daily habits—like drinking water, exercising, reading, and smoking less—while they work at their desks. The app features a sassy, unhinged avatar that interacts with users in real-time, providing humorous, motivational, and sometimes brutally honest feedback. The avatar not only roasts users when they stray from their goals but also celebrates their progress, making the journey to healthier habits both fun and rewarding.

How we built it

We built the app entirely using Shapes XR and the Meta Quest 3:

Passthrough Mode: This feature enabled seamless integration of the virtual avatar into the user's real-world environment.
Holo Notes: We used this to demonstrate scenarios and provide users with interactive visual feedback on their habits. The app tracks user behavior in real-time, allowing the avatar to deliver dynamic responses and keep users engaged.

Special thanks to, Poly.pizza for low poly models, Meshy.ai for modeling support and ChatGPT for brainstorming and writing support.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing Prototype Scope: We initially aimed to demonstrate a wide variety of habits and build a fully functioning "habit house," but this proved too ambitious for a prototype. To maintain focus and feasibility, we scaled back to a demonstration of key features. Overloading the headset with too many animations was another challenge we had to address during development.
Visual and Interaction Design: While we opted for a low-poly, simple visual style to streamline the process (thanks poly.pizza), certain elements like stomach and lung models required extra effort. We utilized tools like Meshy to fill in these gaps while ensuring clarity in our organ models.
Realism vs. Imagination: Larger animations, such as having the avatar interact dynamically with objects like a water bottle, were scaled back to avoid complexity in the prototype. This helped us focus on conveying the app's potential functionality while maintaining smooth performance.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of designing a prototype that makes habit formation entertaining and accessible. Successfully blending real-time feedback, humor, and immersive visuals using Shapes XR and Meta Quest 3 was a significant milestone. Watching the avatar videos engage potential users has us excited about the future of healthy habits.

What we learned

We learned a lot about the potential of mixed reality in promoting behavior change. The project taught us how humor can be a powerful tool in engaging users and encouraging healthy habits. Additionally, we gained valuable insights into real-time user interaction and the importance of creating a balanced user experience.

What's next for XR you serious?

Looking ahead, we plan to:

Expand Habit Tracking: Broaden the range of healthy habits the app can monitor, ensuring it caters to diverse user needs.
Develop Immediate Use Cases: Explore real-world applications with current technology, such as leveraging Meta Quest professional training apps as a framework testing ground or as an accountability partner for productivity tools.
Audio-Driven XR Assistant: Create a simplified version using AI for XR glasses or smartphones, featuring audio-based feedback and camera scanning without full 3D visuals.
Enhance Engagement: Introduce more avatar personalities, dynamic interactions, and social features like collaborative challenges or friendly competitions.
Iterative Refinement: Use user feedback to fine-tune the experience, making XR You Serious? even more impactful, accessible, and entertaining.