Snackpals

I guided the evolution of Snackpals through three distinct iterations over a year at IDEO CoLab, transforming it from an in-store mobile AR experience to a projection-based kitchen collaboration tool. The initial concept addressed future health and financial wellbeing by giving healthy foods the same appeal as junk food through augmented reality creatures living on fruits and vegetables. Using Vuforia and Unity, we created a prototype where children could discover and collect creatures by fulfilling healthy eating challenges, with parents verifying completion and potentially contributing to 529 college savings accounts. I designed both the AR experience and companion app prototype, along with an animated marketing website featuring SVG and CSS animations. For version two, we pivoted to a store-fixture 'Snackscanner' that eliminated phone dependency and maintained parental control over food purchases—a tablet-equipped scale that revealed creatures on produce placed on it, with physical collectible cards dispensed to users. Our final iteration brought the experience into the home kitchen after research identified that picky eating habits form early. I led the team in developing a multi-party projection-based system where parent and child collaborate on cooking tasks guided by projected instructions and cheering Snackpals creatures, creating positive kitchen experiences that make healthy food preparation engaging and fun for families.