Gamifying Electric Racing and Physical Play
LEGO - Formula E + Porsche
Overview & Impact
In close collaboration with LEGO, Unity designed, developed, and delivered LEGO's Technic AR+ app. The AR+ app blends unrivaled physical play with mobile augmented reality, making use of the world's most renowned and unique intellectual property and brands. Our team at Unity was responsible for creating many experiences for the AR+ app, one of which was for the Formula E® Porsche 99X Electric.
• 500,000+ global downloads as of July 2023
• Average rating of ⭐4.7 stars on the App Store as of July 2023
• Average rating of ⭐4.7 stars on the App Store as of July 2023
Role:
Creative Director, Product Designer. Led 2 other Product Designers.
Creative Director, Product Designer. Led 2 other Product Designers.
The Challenge
LEGO reached out to Unity for assistance on something they had never made before: a mobile augmented reality application that was fun, authentic, and would track a fast-moving LEGO Technic model, all at the same time.
Another challenge was the engineering of the LEGO model itself: the model did not steer. This meant we needed to think outside the box to replicate the authentic Formula E circuit racing experience, which is filled with twists and turns.
Our team also had to work with many different stakeholders and execute Formula E's unique IP and distinct brand feel and visual identity. The AR experience had to embody the electrified, instantaneous acceleration of Formula E circuit racing, and all its twists and turns.
Formula E Design Process
Together with LEGO, we abided to three design principles that we revisited with every design consideration: authenticity, functionality, and challenge. The Unity team aimed to create a product that delivered an authentic and distinct experience tailored to each IP, all while preserving the core functionality of LEGO’s physical model sets. It was critical that this product would also engage users by providing mental stimulation and enhancing replayability, thereby challenging the boundaries of their skills and abilities.
Formula E is miles different from its fuel-powered counterpart, Formula 1, and has exclusive elements like 'Attack Mode' and the now retired 'Fan Boost' to give drivers the competitive edge. The race circuits are also integrated into the hearts of major cities like Rome and New York, which we referenced, abstracted, and inserted into our AR experience to give the sense of being physically present.
Abstracted 3D models of landmarks found on the real street circuit tracks.
AR gameplay for Formula E was a major challenge, as LEGO wanted an experience that made use of the model's pull-back motors. After many prototypes and ideation, we tried something different: why not have the track move around the car? We referenced real tracks, broke them up into sectors which included straights, left and right turns, and then aggregated the recorded times to make up the overall race time.
User Testing
As we built prototypes and development builds for both this Formula E experience and the Mustang Shelby GT500, we ran several user testing sessions with children aged 8-12 and internal staff who had no prior knowledge.
We ran structured tests, observed actions and reactions, and shadowed participants to validate some design decisions and get an overall grasp of whether or not our experiences sparked joy and encouraged replayability. To our delight, there were a few instances where the children would ask their parents after the session if they could try the app again to beat their previous recorded times (adults showed very similar glimpses of competitiveness).
Deliverables
In addition to moodboards, high-level flows, wireframes, clickable prototypes, design system components and styling within Figma, we also delivered detailed high-fidelity flow diagrams that communicated specifically to developers. Edge cases like losing tracking of the LEGO model were all specified and presented to the user at the applicable touchpoints.
Outcome
LEGO Technic AR+ launched on iOS and Android in 2022, with over 500,000 global downloads to-date. It has an average rating of ⭐4.7 stars on Apple's App Store, and ⭐4.3 stars on the Google Play Store (due to some initial hardware incompatibilities).
It has since unlocked a new way of play for LEGO and its customers, and engaged new set of audience to experiment and try augmented reality. Because of the overwhelming success of the AR+ app, Unity is continuously partnering with LEGO to create more meaningful play experiences that adapt to ever-changing technologies and interaction paradigms.
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“It’s really cool to see your model come to life in races. It’s honestly the coolest game I have.”
Apple App Store
Apple App Store
“The kids found it really enjoyable that once it was built there was still more to play with and were amazed with the pull-back motor and the AR experience with the app.”
LEGO.com
LEGO.com
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