About
Matt is Design Director for Spatial Interaction at Ultraleap where he leads a team of interaction designers and user researchers, on a mission to help write the rulebook for how to design spatial, gestural interfaces such as virtual reality, mixed reality and gesture-controlled displays. Matt is also a LinkedIn Learning instructor.
Matt has worked in design for twenty years, starting out as a Lego toy designer before moving into the tech industry, and transitioning from physical to digital products. He’s worked on everything from smart meters and drones, to renewable energy and products for people living dementia. He specialises in VR and gesture, humanising new technologies, and helping organisations create an effective culture of design.
Talk details
How to Design for Gesture & VR
We've all seen heroes in sci-fi films control interfaces by gesturing with their hands in the air. Controlling VR and even touchless displays with your hands is now a reality, but what does good interaction design look like in this new world, and how do we ensure it's as natural and comfortable as the technology promises?
This talk is an introduction to gestural and spatial interface design for UX designers – these exciting, 3D interfaces offer a way to extend our interactions beyond the screen, and in many ways tear up the rulebook on what we know about UX design.
Matt will explain what’s been learned so far over several years of interaction research at Ultraleap with hand tracking and haptics technologies. He'll show examples from real projects, explain what works, what doesn't, and break down the design principles, gestures and UI components that you can expect to be working with in the near future.
3 key takeaways:
- VR interfaces designed for hands are three-dimensional and physical - more akin to mechanical switches and controls than the flat, 2D world of touchscreens
- Gestures have a natural variance. To make them work for everyone, we need to accommodate the natural range of hand sizes, shapes and mannerisms that we see across the population.
- Without the tactility of a glass screen, it can be harder to interact with confidence. Spatial UI design needs to provide exaggerated feedback - sending clear signals through visual design, audio and haptics to give users certainty.
