When spatial apps are intentionally designed to support curiosity and discovery, they feel more like engaging experiences than educational lessons.
The Museas and Astronoma apps for Apple Vision Pro are gold standard examples of this approach. Developed entirely by Miguel Garcia Gonzalez, founder of Augmenos, Museas brings centuries of art history into users’ homes, while Astronoma offers a unique form of space exploration. Both use real-world source material and factual information to create experiences that encourage exploration and repeat visits, especially as new content is added.
Here are some of the themes I took away from my interview with Gonzalez on creating captivating immersive edutainment experiences.
Make Curiosity the Starting Point
“Learning a new subject can be difficult, but that experience is much more engaging when done with immersive technologies. It shouldn’t have to feel like a tedious lesson, but rather a curious journey that you happen to learn from in the end” shares Gonzalez. As he designs experiences, he starts with the “wow” moments to capture a sense of awe and then layers in different design elements that “let the user freely explore at the depth and scale they are naturally interested in reaching.”
So as to not overwhelm users with the many options they have to explore in his apps, Gonzalez “compartmentalize[s] more specific content through exhibitions” to allow them to proceed down a path should they choose to keep engaging with a particular subject.
Not Everything Needs to Be Spatial
“There is a lot of content in art and science that is better presented in 3D, which no phone or tablet can produce as well as a mixed reality device” explains Gonzalez. “It feels more ‘hands-on’, even if virtual, helping users literally grasp concepts better.” But not everything needs to be spatial in an immersive app. The integrity of the content must be preserved above all else. “With newer Apple APIs like Spatial Scenes, I can convert select artworks and space images into 3D.” He is, however, selective about which content gets this treatment so that only the images that present well in Spatial Scenes are integrated.
Choosing to present some content in 2D also focuses more attention on the 3D elements. For example, in Astronoma, when “learning about Sputnik 1, the spacecraft is presented in 3D while the content complimentary to it (archival images, diagrams), appears planar in spatial coordinates. This centers the attention on the 3D content without distracting elements on the peripheral.”
Immersion Should Support the Content, Not Compete With It
“The educational content is the star” shares Gonzalez, “ and a flawless design needs to support that.”
I feel like his design celebrates the subject by giving users such close, seamless access to it in their living rooms. The proximity to the planets and priceless art goes beyond the virtual physical closeness you can get to discovering the items and their stories. The facts, intuitive navigation through to the audio guides support the immersive journey.
Immersive experiences unlock new ways to create emotional connections to the star content. And, just like a good magic trick, emotions can help to make a mixed reality experience feel real. Design choices “such as the atmospheric background music tied to thematic scenes like the drums for the “Artifact Room” in Museas or the ethereal notes for the “Nebula” environment in Astronoma, add layers of connection to the content.”
Use Authentic Content to Create Credible Experiences
Astronoma
“The purpose of my apps is to learn, and being factual is paramount,” shares Gonzalez. While Augmenos apps integrate real-world scans of artifacts and photos, he pushes the quality of the experiences further by integrating real data into additional details, from the audio guides and written copy, to user interactions.
As an example, “the recent ‘Space Station’ environment … was made from real ISS orbital data and space imagery from NASA. It was designed natively using Reality Composer Pro and its shader graph editor, wired up with RealityKit in the backend.” Gonzalez has optimized performance “to the point that users can change the position of the sun in real-time, while keeping the underlying experience grounded on real science.”
Build around what people want to discover, and give them the tools and freedom to explore.
