Baaramee: Interacting with a 3D island in Dubai
Relevant Keywords:
Graphical user interface, 3D environment, single point touchscreen, communication & marketing
Design Goal:
For the marketing and communication efforts of Baaramee, one of the islands of The World project in Dubai, an interactive 3D environment was conceived to allow possible investors and buyers to visualize and interact with the project. I was asked to develop a graphical user interface with which users could interact with the system through a touchscreen interface.
Project duration:
100 hours
Methods used:
- System flowcharts to communicate with programmers
- Interactive concept presentation to communicate with programmers and management
THE PROJECT:
The World is a man-made archipelago off the cost of Dubai in which each of the islands represents a world country or region. The island representing Thailand was named Baaramee (formerly Jasmin Gardens) and for its marketing and communication, 3D solutions was hired to develop an interactive 3D system in which potential investors and buyers could navigate through the real estate project and find more information regarding the different features which would be available on the island.
The project was developed with a very internationally oriented team with members in the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and The Netherlands and as such a constant and clear communication was required with both management decision-makers and programmers.
My role consisted in analyzing the proposals made by management about features that the 3D system should offer to the end user and to use my insights with interaction and user-centered design to translate them into an interaction model for the system and an early concept for a graphical user interface that took into consideration an already established branding style.
Final Design
The final design was delivered as a flash presentation to communicate the proposed interaction with both management and programmers. The presentation can be launched by clicking the image below and it includes comments and descriptions of how the graphical user interface should look and behave.
Separate system flowcharts and Illustrator files were delivered to the programing team in Ukraine to allow for the technical development of the 3D system.
Unfortunately no further testing of the interface was possible as the project is on hiatus due to the financial crisis hitting the Dubai market in 2008.