Augmented Retail

UCLA IDEAS Technology Studio Spring 2018

Research Lead: Guvenc Ozel 

Instructors: Guvenc Ozel, Benjamin Ennemoser, Gabby Shawcross

Technologies: XR, computational design, gaming engines, transforming architectures

Students: Christina Charalampaki, Pratina Chadha, Bohan Cheng, Ruiyang Cheng, Kevin Clark, Haocheng Dai, Yutong Dai, Yue Di, Rui Ding, Lu Geng, Jorge Gutierrez, Vigil Escalera, Hoodeen Hakimian, Ying Huang, So Hyun Kim, Zhou Le, Luo Lei, Yunqi Lei, Zhengtao Liu, Qingyun Lu, Sanjeet Sanjay Mukadam, Narisu Narisu, Nidhi Parsana, Kshama Swamy, Hanshuang Tong, Yiliang Wang, Kan Yen Wu, Xuanyi Xu, Ce Yan, Yixuan Ye, Yicheng Zhao, Yiran Zhou

Herman Miller recently purchased Design Within Reach, an online and in-store retailer of modernist furniture from brands varying from Herman Miller to Vitra. The aim of DWR is to become a one stop shop experience to access authentic and original furniture pieces from carious European and American furniture designers and manufacturers. The company takes pride in “originality” meaning it would only sell authorized designs from manufacturers that have the copyright to mass produce particular furniture designs from specific designers such as Le Corbusier, Saarinen, Brauer etc. The Design Within Reach Retail Store on Melrose Avenue will be a our site for exploration to create a compelling architectural scenario for XR applications in retail contexts.

We will be envisioning the architecture itself as a semi- autonomous, intelligent, reactive and responsive system/ machine that is capable of transforming itself physically and virtually, as the architecture we will be exploring will be a synthesis of physical as well as virtual interfaces workingin harmony and codependency. This unique approach is a diversion from contemporary approaches where digital interfaces are tacked on or overlaid onto existing architectural logics, where the architecture itself is seen as a canvas to receive the new media systems, and are designed independently from their logics and considerations. Our design agenda will be consisting of 5 unique moments of design resolution that need to be choreographed in harmony simultaneously from the conceptual design throughout the design development phases of our projects:

1- Static Architectural Systems: These are the standard design elements in a building system that is not meant to be moving.

2- Dynamic Architectural Systems: These are portions of the building system that have the capability to physically transform itself through electromechanical and robotic infrastructure.

3- Augmented Architectural Systems: These are virtual and media applications that are context specific and are fully dependent on the morphology of either static or dynamic architectural systems. Interactive screens, video projections, media walls, as well as augmented reality content that is visible through a sensor enhanced screen, mobile device or an AR headset all cover these systems.

4- Mixed Architectural Systems: These systems are very specific moments where the physical architectural system aligns with a digital space, where the digital space takes the lead. Any specific experience where the world is viewed through a VR headset but some of the physical environmental features align with the digital ones to anchor the experience fall into this category.