CONCEPT

// Cobolt is a mixed reality app prototype for learning mechanical skills.

RESEARCH

// In a 200 person survey, I found that most people expressed more confidence in their technical skills than their mechanical skills. That's steady across income, race, and age.

// However, people that are not cisgender men express significantly lower confidence in their mechanical skills. Men express barriers such as a lack of tools, or a lack of time, whereas non men express not knowing where to go to learn those skills or not feeling confident enough to even try.

// The way we learn mechanical skills is outdated.

SOLUTION

// Mixed Reality uses headsets to project holograms onto the real world. These headsets are becoming increasingly accessible. They can also be used in your home. It's relatively new technology, but there's already several studies that show that using mixed reality dramatically improves confidence in learning environments.

// When we embrace user-oriented technology, we can make learning both more functional and more inclusive.

UX/UI

// I watched people building things and fixing things, and found that people had the same problems over and over again: 
‍
“I forgot a step.”
“Do I have the right tool or right size?”
“There’s a trick to this.”

// This led me to create a prototype for HoloLens with three modes that would address each of these issues, using common verbiage of video games.

// There's an Inventory based mode that helps you identify tools and sizes, a Quest based mode that walks you through a project step by step, and a Cheat Codes mode that helps you with those little tricks you miss when you're new to mechanical skills.

VIABILITY

// I built my own neural network using Azure ML. Using an ONNX framework, you can use thisGithub project to load your own neural network onto the HoloLens 2.

// I'm one person, and I'm new to coding. Imagine the power of something like this made open source.

// Thanks for coming to my TED Talk! :D