I had the great pleasure of collaborating with T-Mobile’s Tech Experience team and later the folks at the ‘5G and Me’ Experience. This partnership started with the design, development, and installation of a Magic Mirror in their Seattle Tech Experience center. This custom mirror driven by mixed reality, AI, and spatial computing shows off near-future retail capabilities as 5G transforms both the retail (CPG) industry and the customer experience. By far one of the most in-depth apps I have created to date.
The video above is a short teaser for the version one Magic Mirror. Glimpses of the second one can be seen in the header video on the home page.
Fun Product Development
This project involved creating ten fake products (ex. smartwatch, drone, headphones, coffee, children’s book, etc.) that come to life when you hold the product in front of this full-length mirror that is powered by robust computer vision. Using some well-crafted product packages (*technically design to trigger and track using a computer vision API) each side of these boxes triggered a different chapter in the product story. Some triggered music videos, promos, interactive 3D games, interactive storytelling moments, and branded moments all with play at the center. This means this effort included everything from casting and shooting actors, editing, and special effects to designing game logic to support a real-time drone flying game and interactive children’s book.
Here’s one of the many product example the team created, this is a twelve-pack variety set of energy drinks. Flavors include; Lotus Enlighted, SuckaPunch, Seal 6 Citrus, and Ninja Star. When you grab this product off the shelf, hold it in front of the mirror and rotate the product box so each respective flavor story will come to life as a fully interactive scenes.
The results
The final product was so well received we developed another mirror for them in their new ‘5G and me’ experience center. This version boasted new products, and advanced functionality. With a focus on accessibility for the UX and UI we designed this one to include multiple input modes seamlessly into the product. Touch, gesture, and voice input are all accessible. This Magic Mirror 2.0 had much of the same core capabilities but also allows for a User to try on virtual make-up, take selfies of their virtual makeovers and send them via text to their friends.
Tandem with this effort, I had the pleasure of developing additional digital experiences to support their evolving 5G story. We created a 5G Meetup mobile app that allows a User to scan their face, using their mobile phone, build a custom avatar and spawn it into a ‘meeting space’ where folks can engage, share and connect via a robust 5G enable experience. This entire experience allows T-Mobile teams to discuss industry evolution to various audience segments with the same applications understanding their docent-led experience has been designed to cater to kids, industry leaders, and even government officials.
Fourteen months in the making and incredibly proud of the effort.
