FreeBirds

In China, many kinds of wild birds are living under severe threats, including habitat-destroying constructions and “venison economy”-induced huntings. The majority of the public is in lack of knowledge about birds and the motivation to protect them.

As a platform of AR birdwatching game, education, report, and fundraising, FreeBirds aims to gain publicity and support for the work of Chinese wild bird conservation.

January – June 2018 (Bachelor’s Dissertation Project)

Demonstration Video

Please click on the pictures to view full size :)

Design Procedures

Research

Analysis

Methodology

Target Users

Transforming User Needs

Product Definition

A mobile application that
(A) helps users learn about wild birds and attracts them to partake in bird-watching;
(B) encourages users to report illegal activities and donate to non-profit organizations for bird conservation.

Design Process

Storyboards

Information Architecture

Wireframes

3D Modeling in Blender

Prototyping in Unity

*My design uses markerless AR. The marker AR shown above is for prototyping only.

Advantages of the application of AR (Augmented Reality) game:

Accuracy:
Directly presents the features and the relative sizes of birds.

Interactivity:
Assists with the function of taking screenshots, quizzes and changing environments;
fits the form of “collecting different kinds of birds” and strengthens the sense of “ownership” of users.

Fun:
Attracts users that are not bird lovers to know more about birds.