glĂĽhen
PROJECT: GLĂśHEN
ROLE: UX/UI/MR/VISUALS
DURATION: 3 MONTHS
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Overview
GlĂĽhen is a speculative UX case study that explores how mixed
reality (MR) can improve smart lighting control. Instead of relying
on phones or cluttered apps, the concept reimagines lighting
interfaces as intuitive, gesture-based experiences users can
interact with directly through an MR headset. This project began as
an experimental prompt to push the boundaries of early-stage
interaction design in immersive spaces.
Objective
Could we make controlling lights as seamless as flipping a
switch—without touching anything at all? Glühen explores how to
reduce friction in smart lighting through spatial design and
natural gestures, offering an alternative to today's text-heavy
apps.
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Key Insights
• Smart lighting apps often pull focus from the moment, requiring users
to look down and fumble through cluttered screens.
• Users struggle to identify which control maps to which light, especially
in larger rooms or shared environments.
• MR enables direct manipulation of lights in their actual spatial context,
reducing cognitive load and guesswork.
TAP TO VIEW
affinity map / user personas
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Design Approach
• Used hand tracking to simulate an MR interface that appears over the user’s non-dominant hand, providing quick access to controls.
• Developed user flows for selecting lights, adjusting brightness and color, and saving custom scenes.
• Prioritized simplicity and intuitive gestures—tap, pinch, and hover—over menus or settings trees.
TAP TO VIEW
visualization
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Prototype
The high-fidelity prototype was built using Bezi and visualized on an Oculus headset. It walks through:
• Entering the MR environment
• Selecting a light using a visual anchor
• Adjusting brightness with a pinch-and-slide gesture
• Activating a saved scene from a control dock on the hand
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Reflection
Unlike client work, Glühen wasn’t created to ship—it was an exercise
in imagining what a better future could feel like. The project helped
me sharpen my early-stage UX skills, from prototyping in immersive
tools to articulating abstract interaction patterns. While there were
no formal results, the goal was exploration. I left the project with a
stronger sense of how to simplify complex systems through spatial
thinking.
