AreWeThereYet

Human-scale AR navigation for the last 100 meters.

AreWeThereYet is a Snap Spectacles / Lens Studio prototype for recording and replaying walking routes with spatial waypoints, a hologram guide, and lightweight storytelling cues.

Most maps can get someone to an address. They often fail at the part people actually remember: the confusing hallway, the basement entrance, the airport corner, the hidden café, the exact Airbnb door, or the path through a venue that only makes sense once someone has shown you.

AreWeThereYet explores a warmer version of navigation: part route recorder, part tour guide, part reassurance layer.

Demo

WeWillTakeYouThere.mp4

Problem

GPS and maps are optimized for streets, not human arrival. The stressful part of navigation is often the final indoor or semi-private segment: finding the correct door, hallway, pickup point, exhibit, classroom, terminal exit, or parked car.

The project asks:

What if a person could record the route once, then let someone else replay it later with spatial guidance and contextual story cues?

What it does

• Records a walking route through Snap Spectacles.
• Drops spatial waypoints along the path.
• Replays the route with dotted AR guidance and a small hologram guide.
• Supports contextual callouts such as “enter here,” “go upstairs,” or “look right.”
• Makes room for optional stories, history, fun facts, accessibility notes, or easter eggs.
• Frames navigation as a shared human handoff rather than a generic map instruction.

Interaction model

flowchart LR
    A["Record path"] --> B["Drop spatial waypoints"]
    B --> C["Attach route context"]
    C --> D["Save route"]
    D --> E["Replay with AR guide"]
    E --> F["Arrive with confidence"]

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Use cases

• Museums, galleries, and cultural institutions
• Universities, labs, and campus buildings
• Expo halls, concerts, stadiums, and conferences
• Hospitals, hotels, apartment buildings, and Airbnbs
• Airport transfers and pickup points
• Local city routes created by people who know the area
• Accessibility-aware route sharing

Tech stack

• Snap Spectacles
• Lens Studio 5.12
• Spectacles Interaction Kit
• TypeScript for lens logic
• Spatial waypoints
• Depth cache
• Lens Cloud for persistence direction
• Remote service gateway for future AI-assisted route context

What I built / explored

• Spatial route-recording flow for wearable AR.
• AR playback pattern using dotted path guidance and a hologram guide.
• Route context model that can support practical instructions and storytelling.
• Product framing for navigation that treats reassurance as part of the user experience.

Challenges

• Indoor guidance lacks reliable GPS-level positioning.
• AR path alignment must feel stable enough to be trusted.
• Instructions need to be clear without cluttering the user’s field of view.
• Storytelling and utility must be balanced; too much content makes navigation harder.

Case study

Read the full case study: docs/case-study.md

Future work

• Add text-to-speech narration for route cues.
• Support accessibility notes and audio-only alternatives.
• Add route personalization by age, mobility needs, interests, or available time.
• Save and share cloud-backed routes as reusable anchorable experiences.
• Explore phone playback for users without AR glasses.
• Investigate AI-assisted route generation from venue maps, airport instructions, or Airbnb check-in notes.

Status

Prototype-stage. The current repository documents a working route-record/replay concept and demo direction. The next GitHub-quality step is to add reproducible setup instructions, sample route assets, and a short annotated demo GIF in media/.

Team

Built by team We Will Take You There as a human-centered AR navigation prototype.