Interaction - Bachelors

AROOT, an augmented reality social app

AROOT is a mobile app that redefines social media by integrating augmented reality and gamification to help isolated individuals find a sense of belonging and connection to their surroundings through a series of engaging and symbolic interactive experiences. By merging the digital and physical worlds, AROOT enables users to share meaningful experiences without concern, serving as a medium for effortlessly bonding with local places and people, ultimately creating a supportive and sustainable community with each individual feeling included and valued.

MingTai Li

Problem

AROOT addresses a critical issue in contemporary, globalized societies—especially pertinent in Australia—where relocation and immigration often lead to difficulties in adapting to new environments and cultures, causing isolation. Thus, this application is designed to allow users to create digital link in their surrounding that represent their current feelings, emotional moments and identities, serving as mediums for creating bonds with others as well as the location the interaction takes place.

GAMIFIED EXPERIENCE

Other than the AR socialization feature, AROOT also includes a gamification component designed to enhance user engagement by creating a relaxing environment where individuals can interact with the friends they’ve made. Using expressive visual narratives and dynamic interactions—such as collecting, growing, and caring for virtual elements—this component fosters deeper connections as users earn progress in the digital space through increased interaction and connection-making in the AR environment, with these digital achievements simultaneously manifesting as changes in the AR space. This reciprocal relationship functions as a form of positive reinforcement, encouraging sustaining user engagement and connection-building over time.
Within the gamified environment, users can participate in casual mini-games with their connections, promoting collaborative interactions that encourage support and appreciation for each other’s progress in a fun and sustaining manner compared to other social media.

MingTai Li

MingTai Li is a Bachelor of Design student set to graduate at the end of 2024. He is passionate about expressing creativity and designing fun and refreshing experiences. His design interests encompass narrative and experience design, as well as visual communication, which he combines to create immersive and visually captivating interactive experience.