An experimental project to help students better visualize 3D graphs (it takes some getting used to!). By mapping hand movements to movements which explore the graph, we hoped to make the abstract graph more physical and, for want of a better word, tangible.
I made all the software, and also developed the interface (which hand controls mapped to which actions).
( please excuse the movember beard )
I had no prior Unity, C# and Leap Motion experience. Unity in particular took a while for me to self-learn. Beyond that, the biggest challenge I faced was the procedural generation of the graph, and shading it just the way I wanted (with the tron-like effect). It took a while to learn how to set the triangles, and it was a very cool concept to learn.
The project relied heavily on good user experience. Interacting with the software using hands instead of a mouse and keyboard had to feel natural, or as close to natural as possible, because the project was about finding a way of making these 3D graphs feel more intuitive.
I tried endless different hand poses and gestures, as well as independently interviewed 10 different users and had them try out various hand controls to see which they preferred. It was a good lesson about balancing power (the ability to interact with the graph with what I thought of as expert-level speed) and ease of use. I'm still slightly unsatisfied with the compromise I chose, as it takes a few seconds to get the hang of the controls. But it was easy to use after the adjustment period, and, particularly due to time and resource constraints (done is better than chasing perfect), I stand by my choice.