This was the largest and most in-depth project I worked on at The Bosco. I collaborated with a team of people to transform an internal prototype called Ultrawave to an external product called Ultra.
The goal of this product was to create an offering that combined the small footprint and portability of the Bosco Lite with the capabilities of the standard photo and video booths. Some clients were limited by the size and cost of the larger booths, especially when accounting for shipping and international events. Our booths had also started to show their age, and it offered an opportunity to refresh the design and distinguish ourselves from our competitors.
I mainly worked on the software side with a developer who built an application that worked like a JSON wrapper for Apple’s Metal framework. I looked through the documentation for the Metal API and highlighted the features and effects we would need implemented, using my knowledge on client projects to prioritize the features we used the most. I then tested the features he added each sprint, using JSON to program photo, video, and gif outputs. I translated our Video Booth offerings to the new product, and I developed our three standard “vif” (video gif) outputs.
As I built these effects, I also worked on the UI/UX for those using the booth, as well as the UI/UX for the clients, which included a secret menu accessible by a touch command to manipulate parameters like white balance, ISO, and shutter speed. In addition, I collaborated with our back-end developers to ensure we could adjust the booths remotely, both with updated JSON templates and with tweaks to the camera settings.
On the physical side, another designer handled the shell design and manufacturing while I tested many different lighting set ups to determine the proper internal bulb temperature and how the external lights should be situated. I created multiple prototypes for lighting and filters for the outputs that achieved different moods and shadows. Once those were solidified, I worked with a producer to organize photoshoots with models to create marketing items and to use on the final interface.
While features were being added, I programmed custom projects for select clients such as Google, America’s Got Talent, FILA, and MAC cosmetics. These installations provided useful testing environments and client feedback and, along with internal testing, allowed us to continue iterating on the design and outputs of the product. After a few months of custom projects, many tests, and a lot of work, we were able to officially launch Ultra which continues to be a popular product.
Roles: Software development, UI/UX design, Motion design, Product design, Documentation, Training, QA testing