Asterist is a mobile AR application that proposes a new approach to preserving memories. It allows users to trace real stars in the sky and create personalized constellations. Each constellation can host various media, such as audio recordings, writings, videos, music, and visuals, through the app’s creative tools. The application attracts users by presenting the night sky as a blank canvas, enabling them to trace shapes across real stars on their mobile devices.

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The target audience includes stargazers of all experience levels, writers, artists, and anyone interested in authoring their personal histories and tying their digital memorabilia to a non-traditional calendar powered by the natural movement of the stars.  

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In the future, we plan to integrate features that allow users to share their constellations and stories with others, creating a personalized night sky filled with collections of stories from friends and the broader community.

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This project is being developed with thoughtful and thorough consultation from astronomy experts. Their support ensures the accuracy of our star database in real-time alignment with the current sky while also helping us design a safe and sustainable interactive environment for users to explore self-guided narrative creation.

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In this project, I collaborated with USC graduate students under the supervision of Martzi Campos and Sean Bouchard at the USC Game Innovation Lab. As one of the Lead Developers, I worked alongside a team from diverse backgrounds including interactive media, astronomy, computer science, cinematic arts, games, and health.

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Playable build: https://testflight.apple.com/join/BhGHF6We

 

BREAKING NEWS: This project is awarded funding by the Sloan Foundation in 2024.

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September 2023 - May 2024