ATLAS: The Undersea Exploration Experience, at Your Own Living Room

You-Jin Kim and Mengyu Chen:
ATLAS: The Undersea Exploration Experience, at Your Own Living Room. In: Magic Leap Independent Creator Program Pitch Presentation
Presented: Magic Leap Independent Creator Program Pitch Presentation,  February 4, 2019, Magic Leap, Plantation, Florida

Abstract

Developed in 2018 as part of a supported Magic Leap initiative, ATLAS is an augmented reality application that transforms a standard physical room into a moving submarine and deep-sea aquarium. Through this partnership, we received three pre-release Magic Leap One headsets and collaborated directly with core Magic Leap team members, including Alex Haber and Greg Rinaldi, to bring the project to life.

The core of the application allows users to explore the deep ocean by converting their living space into a functional submarine environment, complete with a control cockpit that enables them to pilot the vessel to their next destined location. The beauty of the experience lies in its immersion: digital ocean elements, such as whales and other marine life, beautifully overflow into the user's physical room. By having these massive creatures and underwater elements physically pass by the user, the application creates a truly immersive and breathtaking environment.

To guide the interaction, we developed a comprehensive user experience flowchart that emphasizes flexibility in how the environment is enjoyed. Specifically, the application features two distinct engagement styles--Explore Mode and Relax Mode--giving users the freedom to choose whether they want an active, exploratory journey or a calming, passive underwater experience.

Research Contributions

• Transforms a stationary physical room into a virtually moving submarine without requiring user locomotion.

• Demonstrates how large virtual elements, like marine life, can seamlessly breach and traverse physical room boundaries.

• Integrates a virtual cockpit into the physical space, enabling navigation of expansive digital worlds from confined areas.

• Establishes a flexible user experience framework supporting both active exploration and passive ambient immersion.

• Reimagines room-scale AR interactions, using spatial interaction design to maximize user understanding of mixed reality despite a limited hardware field of view. 

Citation IEEE Format

[1] Y. J. Kim, "Beyond Reality: Designing Personal Experiences and Interactive Narratives in AR Theater," Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2024, Order No. 31761773. [Online]. Available: ProQuest Dissertations, doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2510.22098. (189 Pages)

Citation APA Format

Kim, Y. J. (2024). Beyond Reality: Designing Personal Experiences and Interactive Narratives in AR Theater (Publication No. 31761773) [Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara]. ProQuest Dissertations. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2510.22098. (189 Pages)