Animalia
Project Overview
Objective
Seamlessly blend wildlife with futuristic travel solutions to reshape urban tourism, crafting a unique and innovative approach to transport.
Tools
Figma
Miro
Fusion 360
As part of my fraternity's initiation project, our team was challenged to design a comprehensive mobility ecosystem, emphasizing technology & sustainability.
Solution
Our concept, Animalia, is a ride-hailing & delivery service that offers transport via robotic animals, all facilitated through a companion mobile app.
My Role
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Conducted secondary research on green robots and sustainable technology
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Generated concept sketches of products
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Developed lo-fidelity & hi-fidelity wireframes
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Created an interactive mockup of mobile app
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Assisted in CAD modeling of robotic horse
Design Process
1
2
3
4
5
Brainstorming & Ideation
Secondary Research
Concept Sketching
Lo-fidelity
Wireframes
Hi-fidelity Mockups
6
Final
Designs
Brainstorming & Ideation
Our team started brainstorming on Miro to come up with ideas for the design challenge. We narrowed down our focus to three categories of information: transport ideas, existing forms of transport, and current issues and challenges related to transportation and mobility. After careful consideration, we chose to pursue the concept of using robotic animals due to its uniqueness.
listing different ideas and existing forms of technology on Miro
focusing on robotic animals and urban tourism
Research
We examined various papers and articles to further develop our idea of creating robotic animals. Starting with horses, we expanded our scope to include other animals and integrate multi-purpose features.
Tourism
Tourist cities often struggle with issues such as overcrowding, pollution, and environmental degradation due to high volumes of visitors.
Robotics
Using eco-friendly and industry-standard materials for the animal robots can enable easy maintenance with minimal impact on the environment.
Sustainability
Green robot technology assists with waste monitoring, resource optimization, recycling and cleanup. Utilizing clean energy sources like solar, bio, and wind power can also contribute to sustainability efforts.
Tourism
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Animalia Breakdown
Animalia’s features can be categorized by the robotic animal services and integrated systems. The diagram below breaks down each of these categories.
Services
Robotic Horse
Robotic Whale
Robotic Pigeon
Mobile App
Power
Stations
Green Tech
Benefits and Advantages
We explored the integration of robotic transportation with eco-friendly technology, identifying three primary benefits and advantages of this innovative approach:
Fosters appreciation for wildlife and conservation.
Aids in cleanup & environmental monitoring.
Offers a novel and exciting experience for travelers.
Sketching
Our team began to create concept sketches for the horse, pigeon, and whale robots to better visualize our idea. From each sketch, we extracted various features to integrate into our final designs.
my sketches for the robotic animals and the mobile screens
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
We transformed our sketches into low-fidelity wireframes using Figma. For the app's UI design, we drew inspiration from Uber and Veo - two design systems that our team was familiar with. The primary screen flows were designed to align with our two main services: ride and delivery.
Final Designs
Our final solution features mockups of the robotic animals and an interactive mobile app prototype. Our 3D models were rendered using Fusion 360 and Maya, and the companion app was designed using Figma.
Robotic Animals
![Maitreyi[1].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7f29f8_68688abd6c1d4fdf9cbd21b6099eabe4~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_419,h_236,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Maitreyi%5B1%5D.png)
![Alexia[1].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7f29f8_733b091ba2664069abc474b8c7b43e75~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_425,h_239,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Alexia%5B1%5D.png)
Horse
The robotic horse navigates within specific city parameters for tours. When inactive, the robot picks up trash and litter.
Whale
The whale offers rides around the river/ocean. The lower compartment is designed for trash detection, separation and collection.
Pigeon
The pigeon delivers mail and small packages more efficiently. Built-in cameras allow it to locate & dispose of garbage while roaming​.
High-Fidelity Mockups
Home Page
Acts as a centralized hub for the user, where they can access the main services and view helpful resources.
Services Page
Allows the user to choose from two main services while providing a variety of options for a more personalized experience.
Activity Page
Displays the user's travel history, allowing them to track past rides, review payments, and revisit destinations.
Profile Page
Here, users manage their personal information, customize preferences, and update payment methods.
Mobile App Demo
Below is a video demonstration of our interactive mobile app prototype, showcasing the different features and screen flows.
Next Steps
If given more time to continue working on this project, our next steps would entail building and evaluating our current designs, iterating, and expanding system features to enhance accessibility.
Conduct Usability Testing
Refine Product Designs
Expand System Features
Reflection
This was my first project for Alpha Theta Delta (ΑΘΔ), a newly-established professional design fraternity. A unique aspect of this project was the broad range of disciplines represented within my team, comprising students from UX design, studio arts & technology, animation, mechanical engineering, and aerospace engineering. Working in a multidisciplinary environment is incredibly humbling and I deeply appreciate the opportunity to expand my skillset, particularly in CAD modeling. I am immensely proud of our team for developing what initially seemed like an impossible idea, and I look forward to working alongside my brothers at Alpha Theta Delta.