SVA IxD 3D & XR Hackathon: AR moment archiving services for the elderly

Team 07310 : Sangeun Chae, Yeeun Min, Soyeon Kim, Hyungjun Kwon

Hello, I’m Sangeun Chae, a senior design student at the School of Visual Arts. I participated in a 3D & XR Hackathon on campus hosted by Designpreneurs Hackathon. This event ran for 25 hours from October 4th to 5th. Out of two theme options, my team chose “Design an immersive experience for elderly individuals in 2030.” Our team, consisting of Soyeon Kim, Yeeun Min, Hyungjun Kwon, and myself, named ourselves “07310,” inspired by our zip code.

Overview

HGB : Happy GoodBye

HGB: Happy GoodBye

This project focused on the issue of elderly depression triggered by experiences of “death”, under the concept of AR moment archiving services for the elderly. We applied the reminiscence therapy approach and chose wearable smart glasses as the platform.

Problem Statement

Have you ever thought about death?

Recent research highlights significant mental health concerns among the elderly population. Approximately 20% of individuals aged over 60 live with a mental disorder. One major contributing factor to their depression is the experience of death, whether it be of a spouse, family member, or close friend. Notably, 40% of individuals aged over 65 have experienced the death of someone close to them, which can trigger or exacerbate feelings of grief and depression.

In light of this, the issue we are focusing on is depression in the elderly triggered by the experience of “Death”.

Processes

Step 1. Ideation

White Board Challenge

We began by selecting “The Elderly” as our user group and held an open brainstorming session to explore the challenges they face. Inspired by our initial topic of “well-dying” we wrote down various related keywords on sticky notes. We also expanded our ideas to align with the event’s theme of “immersive experience” and the context of the year 2030. As a result, we established the framework for our target audience, problems, hypothesis, and key features.

This three-hour whiteboard challenge enriched our ideas and significantly helped us set a clear direction for the project.

Step 2. Research

To begin, we conducted research to establish our problem statement. This research provided evidence to support our ideation and allowed us to define clearer key features. While exploring existing treatment methods for elderly depression, I discovered “Reminiscence Therapy.” This is a therapeutic approach that encourages individuals, particularly older adults, to reflect on and share memories from their past. Through this process, elderly individuals can reaffirm the meaning of their lives and restore self-esteem through various important methods. Ultimately, we decided to incorporate this approach into our service and apply it using AR technology through wearable smart glasses.

competitor analysis

Additionally, I conducted a competitor analysis to find existing services related to our concept. While there are services that address legal issues related to death and those focused on memorials and archiving, we found no services that specifically address depression in the elderly triggered by the experience of “death.”

Step 3. Define

During the define phase, we developed two “How Might We” questions. The causes of elderly depression triggered by “death” can be divided into two main categories: depression caused by the fear of one’s own death and depression resulting from the loss of loved ones. To address these issues, we applied reminiscence therapy to both directions and created two “How Might We” questions during the define phase.

“How Might We provide a way for users confronting their own mortality to easily archive and reflect on their personal memories to improve their mental health?”

“How Might We provide an opportunity to experience the traces left by loved ones who have passed away for users who are grieving, so that they can achieve healthy commemoration?”

Step 4. User Experience

Persona & User Journey

We needed to create personas for the two questions set in our “How Might We” phase, so we established Evelyn and George as an elderly couple for storytelling purposes. This allowed us to develop a connected user journey that was also featured in our final video, showcasing their story.

Step 5. Visualizing

Logo

During the ongoing development process, we wanted to shift the perception of “death” towards a more positive view rather than focusing on sadness. To reflect this, we named our project “Happy Goodbye,” shortened to “HGB.” We designed a logo that represents the three types of records: video, text, and voice.

Additionally, we created UI designs for applying AR to wearable smart glasses, along with 3D icons that respond to different emotions.

Solution

The elderly who feel depressed of “death” need an experience that could comfort and make them redefine death because they are not ready to face death itself as a happy goodbye.

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Reflection

When submitting the project, time management was one aspect I found regretful. Although my team worked hard until the very last moment, there were processes we had to skip due to time constraints, and the connection between UX, UI, and visualizing was somewhat lacking. While it was understandable given the limited time frame for completing a project, I believe that if we had managed our time more systematically, we could have produced a more polished final result.

Throughout the 25-hour hackathon, it was both surprising and fulfilling to see how all the team members stayed focused and created a complete project in such a short time. It was also a great opportunity to learn from each other’s strengths, and everyone’s active participation made it an unforgettable experience.

Preparation for presentation

I would like to thank Designpreneurs Hackathon and SVA for providing this opportunity, as well as our team mentor, Grace. Once again, I want to express my gratitude to my teammates, Soyeon Kim, Yeeun Min, and Hyungjun Kwon.

My team prsentation

2024 Designpreneurs Hackathon x School of Visual Arts