AR Design | UX Design
Augmented Vinyl Discovery
What I learned from vinyl lovers and shop owners:
🫣
💭
Shop owners want to share stories behind their selections.
The Augmented Vinyl Discovery project aims to enhance the vinyl shopping experience for younger, tech-savvy audiences through an augmented reality app that enables album previews, personalized recommendations, and shop owner insights—fostering deeper music discovery and community connection.
My Responsibility:
Ideation, Research, Design, Prototyping, Development, Documentation
My sketch
Outcome
Author:
Me myself and I
🫠
Many feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of albums.
🔍
Newcomers struggle to navigate genres or find music they might enjoy.
Outcome
Time length:
1 month
Reflection
This project grew from my personal passion for music and aimed to create a rewarding community experience. Music lovers responded positively, appreciating how marker-based AR helps maintain a connection between physical music collections and the raw, tactile quality of vinyl.
From a technical perspective, I learned that relying on online 3D tools like Bezi can be unreliable. Although they promise lightweight workflows, I found that tweaking the models and running them on the platform resulted in heavy loading times and significant lag. Next time, I plan to simplify the models and build core interactions directly in Unity first. Once the experience is running smoothly, I’ll replace assets with higher-fidelity models to ensure better performance and a seamless user experience.
Problem statement
How might we help younger, introverted vinyl shoppers discover and connect with music more confidently and meaningfully in local record stores?
Back story
In an era where music discovery is dominated by recommendation algorithms, the spontaneity and depth of exploring hidden musical gems are often lost. Listening has become a quick, passive act, diminishing the storytelling and physicality that vinyl records offer. Vinyl shopping, with its tactile experience and personal interactions with other listeners and shop owners, provides a unique chance to discover music in a more intentional and meaningful way. However, younger, introverted shoppers may hesitate to explore niche or vintage albums due to limited turntable access and an overwhelming selection.
My goal
I want to help local vinyl shops appeal to a broader, younger audience while fostering deeper musical appreciation and community engagement. I envision an augmented reality app that allows users to preview tracks by simply scanning the album cover, alongside shop owner insights and recommendations. This solution would empower users to make confident purchases, enable serendipitous discovery, and train the algorithm to provide more unique, unexpected music suggestions—reviving the joy of discovering under-promoted music.
Individual Recommendations
Pros: Tailored to your tastes or can offer something refreshingly different from your usual content.
Cons: Good recommendations are rare, and the quantity of suggestions tends to be limited.
Using Tools Like Shazam
Pros: Instantly identifies music without needing the title.
Cons: Requires a quiet environment, making it tricky in noisy places to get accurate results.
Online Searches
Pros: Easily accessible anytime.
Cons: Difficult without specific keywords, and time-consuming to listen through all results.
Checking Tracks on Social Media Shorts or YouTube
Pros: Convenient and quick to find.
Cons: Heavily algorithm-driven, often leaning toward trendy rather than personalized picks.
Some customers are too shy to ask for recommendations.
My observations of current music discovery methods