Spatial Recon

Internal R&D Project

The Challenge

Implementing mobile room-scanning and 3D reconstruction technology often results in a frustrating user experience due to a lack of feedback. Users easily lose track of which physical areas they have already scanned. The goal for this ongoing sprint is to design a mobile-first interface that guides users flawlessly through physical spaces to generate accurate 3D models via their camera.

The Architecture & Solution

We are currently prototyping a Mixed Reality HUD overlay directly onto the camera feed. Instead of complex progress bars, the UI uses a dynamic AR mesh that visually "paints" the environment as it's scanned. I am integrating subtle haptic feedback to notify the user when they are panning too fast or when a corner of the room requires more data points, effectively turning a highly technical scanning process into an intuitive, gamified interaction.

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.XR.ARFoundation;
using SpatialRecon.Haptics;
using SpatialRecon.UI;

namespace SpatialRecon.Core
{
    [RequireComponent(typeof(ARMeshManager))]
    public class RoomCaptureEngine : MonoBehaviour
    {
        [Header("HUD Architecture")]
        [SerializeField] private DynamicMeshOverlay hudOverlay;
        [SerializeField] private Material scannedSurfaceMaterial;
        
        [Header("System Metrics")]
        private ARMeshManager _meshManager;
        private HapticController _hapticController;
        private float _currentScanDensity = 0f;
        private const float TARGET_DENSITY_THRESHOLD = 0.95f;

        private void Awake()
        {
            _meshManager = GetComponent<ARMeshManager>();
            _hapticController = new HapticController();
        }

        private void OnEnable()
        {
            _meshManager.meshesChanged += OnSpatialMeshUpdated;
        }

        private void OnDisable()
        {
            _meshManager.meshesChanged -= OnSpatialMeshUpdated;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Analyzes the physical environment and paints the AR mesh on the camera feed.
        /// </summary>
        private void OnSpatialMeshUpdated(ARMeshesChangedEventArgs args)
        {
            foreach (var meshFilter in args.added)
            {
                ApplyDiegeticMaterial(meshFilter);
                CalculateScanProgress(meshFilter.mesh);
            }

            foreach (var meshFilter in args.updated)
            {
                UpdateMeshTopology(meshFilter);
            }

            // Update UI Overlay seamlessly without progress bars
            hudOverlay.RenderMeshFeedback(_currentScanDensity);
        }
        }
    }
}

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.XR.ARFoundation;
using SpatialRecon.Haptics;
using SpatialRecon.UI;

namespace SpatialRecon.Core
{
    [RequireComponent(typeof(ARMeshManager))]
    public class RoomCaptureEngine : MonoBehaviour
    {
        [Header("HUD Architecture")]
        [SerializeField] private DynamicMeshOverlay hudOverlay;
        [SerializeField] private Material scannedSurfaceMaterial;
        
        [Header("System Metrics")]
        private ARMeshManager _meshManager;
        private HapticController _hapticController;
        private float _currentScanDensity = 0f;
        private const float TARGET_DENSITY_THRESHOLD = 0.95f;

        private void Awake()
        {
            _meshManager = GetComponent<ARMeshManager>();
            _hapticController = new HapticController();
        }

        private void OnEnable()
        {
            _meshManager.meshesChanged += OnSpatialMeshUpdated;
        }

        private void OnDisable()
        {
            _meshManager.meshesChanged -= OnSpatialMeshUpdated;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Analyzes the physical environment and paints the AR mesh on the camera feed.
        /// </summary>
        private void OnSpatialMeshUpdated(ARMeshesChangedEventArgs args)
        {
            foreach (var meshFilter in args.added)
            {
                ApplyDiegeticMaterial(meshFilter);
                CalculateScanProgress(meshFilter.mesh);
            }

            foreach (var meshFilter in args.updated)
            {
                UpdateMeshTopology(meshFilter);
            }

            // Update UI Overlay seamlessly without progress bars
            hudOverlay.RenderMeshFeedback(_currentScanDensity);
        }
        }
    }
}

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.XR.ARFoundation;
using SpatialRecon.Haptics;
using SpatialRecon.UI;

namespace SpatialRecon.Core
{
    [RequireComponent(typeof(ARMeshManager))]
    public class RoomCaptureEngine : MonoBehaviour
    {
        [Header("HUD Architecture")]
        [SerializeField] private DynamicMeshOverlay hudOverlay;
        [SerializeField] private Material scannedSurfaceMaterial;
        
        [Header("System Metrics")]
        private ARMeshManager _meshManager;
        private HapticController _hapticController;
        private float _currentScanDensity = 0f;
        private const float TARGET_DENSITY_THRESHOLD = 0.95f;

        private void Awake()
        {
            _meshManager = GetComponent<ARMeshManager>();
            _hapticController = new HapticController();
        }

        private void OnEnable()
        {
            _meshManager.meshesChanged += OnSpatialMeshUpdated;
        }

        private void OnDisable()
        {
            _meshManager.meshesChanged -= OnSpatialMeshUpdated;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Analyzes the physical environment and paints the AR mesh on the camera feed.
        /// </summary>
        private void OnSpatialMeshUpdated(ARMeshesChangedEventArgs args)
        {
            foreach (var meshFilter in args.added)
            {
                ApplyDiegeticMaterial(meshFilter);
                CalculateScanProgress(meshFilter.mesh);
            }

            foreach (var meshFilter in args.updated)
            {
                UpdateMeshTopology(meshFilter);
            }

            // Update UI Overlay seamlessly without progress bars
            hudOverlay.RenderMeshFeedback(_currentScanDensity);
        }
        }
    }
}

Thanks to the dev team for the code snippet!!

The Impact (Projected)

Although still in the developmental phase, early usability tests on the HUD prototype show a massive improvement in scan completion. Users in the testing group successfully scanned an entire room with 91% positive reception regarding the clarity of the AR feedback, validating the core UX hypothesis.