MallMix AR – DustWalkers

Project by: Kashaf Ahmed: Integrator, Nemesis Velazquez: Coder/Designer, Sarah Schneider: Tutor (researched various ways to optimize our code)

MallMix AR reimagines the traditional shopping mall experience by blending physical spaces with immersive digital content. As foot traffic in malls declines due to the rise of e-commerce, this AR experience aims to breathe new life into these once-bustling hubs by transforming them into interactive environments through augmented reality.

The hardest part of the project was getting it to appear the way we wanted it to. We initially planned on using geolocation but no matter what we did it just did not work. We spent the first two weeks finding a solution to this problem by asking online, looking at documentation, using class examples, and asking the professor for help. None of the methods we used worked. We then spent another week trying to use markers instead. The marker did work but the issue was that when we faced away from the marker the model went away. We did the same process of researching and asking the professor, but that did not work either.

Time was running out, so we just decided to have the user stand somewhere and project their camera onto the area to see the scene. We just moved the models a certain amount away from the camera onto the area and that ended up working so we kept it. I thought our version, although not ideal, was better than to have a project that was glitchy and did not work all that well. We are happy that at least our project shows the models clearly.

Using the link provided below, visitors can explore these five scenes throughout the mall. Below is also a map of these locations and visitors can start from anywhere.

The goal is to turn the mall into a destination again, not just for shopping, but for exploration, creativity, and community engagement blurring the line between the physical and the digital to create a new kind of hybrid social space.

If you are not able to go to this experience, we have also attached a google drive link and photos below of what the scenes look like.

Link to experience: MallMixAR

Photos:

View photos/videos here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uKs2yCiK09k9FQzKJsXR-1VqlZy-fL8D?usp=sharing

Map: