Skip to content

Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

Yu Chun Huang Is Honored with the Bronze A' Design Award for Arid AR Application in Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design

Yu Chun Huang honored for interface, interaction and user experience design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design category for Arid AR Application by Yu Chun Huang, designed for Y. C. Huang Design. The award was conferred within the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Bronze A' Design Award

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

More About Arid AR Application

Arid is an augmented reality application for interior remodeling. Arid runs on a mixed reality headset and allows users to view new materials on the walls, ceiling and floor of a real room. The space is first scanned to create a three-dimensional model with spatial anchors. Virtual walls are then attached to these anchors, and paint colors, tiles or transparency can be applied. Preset virtual furniture can be added and moved with hand gestures. Arid reduces the need for physical samples and small screens.

About Yu Chun Huang

Specializing in innovative, technology-driven solutions, this practice explores the intersection of humans, space, and the built environment. With expertise in brain-computer interface technology, computer-aided design, and virtual reality, the work spans from smart space design using mind commands to immersive digital museum experiences and futuristic online shopping platforms (VROS). The goal is to push the boundaries of computational technology, enhancing user interaction with spaces and contributing to advancements in both design and technology.

Award Record

With this recognition, Yu Chun Huang is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design Award

The A' Interface Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good user interface designs by the best UI/UX designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interface designers, interaction designers, user experience designers and digital product designers from all countries. Entries typically include websites, mobile applications, software interfaces, game interfaces, wearable interfaces and virtual reality interfaces. Awarded interface designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/interface

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

###

Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
Arid AR Application
Function
AR Application
Category
Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design
Discipline
Communication Design
Industry
Software
Colors
Dark Slate Gray, Dim Gray, Light Gray, Black and Dark Gray
Images
5
Client
Y. C. Huang Design

The Recognition

Laureate
Yu Chun Huang
Country
United States of America
Recognition
Bronze A' Design Award
Edition
2024 - 2025
Design ID
#163917

Credits

Team
Jiayi Xu and Zhoucai Ni

Design Details

Unique Properties
Remodeling a home can be overwhelming, especially when visualizing materials like tiles and paint in an existing space. Traditional 3D CAD often limit the design experience to tiny 2D screens. ARID creates an immersive experience, allowing users to seamlessly blend virtual designs with the real world through AR/VR headsets. In just minutes, users can customize exisiting walls, explore materials, and arrange virtual furniture—all using intuitive hand gestures, fully integrated with the space.
Inspiration
When people remodel their homes, it’s not just about adjusting the layout or changing materials—everyone envisions their dream room with specific color tones and tile preferences. Traditional design tools like 2D CAD and 3D simulations often fall short in providing a realistic representation. ARID enables users to visualize their designs in real-time, overlaying virtual materials onto physical walls, incorporating natural lighting, and reducing the need for physical samples.
Research
In architectural remodeling projects, design methods have evolved from physical models and computer-aided design (CAD) to Virtual Reality (VR) and phone-based Augmented Reality (AR). CAD enables designers to create 2D and 3D building models to visualize and simulate designs before construction. VR allows users to immerse themselves in a virtual 3D space, enhancing the design experience. Current phone-based AR apps, like the IKEA app, let users simulate adding virtual furniture to their actual living spaces. However, these apps are limited by small screens, offering a less comprehensive view of potential results.
Challenge
The ARID system utilizes a VR headset to precisely measure room dimensions, crucial for accurate design interventions. When applying tiles, ARID calculates the wall size and tile dimensions to ensure perfect fit without stretching. Traditional methods using small color swatches or tile samples often fall short, as they can't replicate the full effect of materials in a fully decorated room. ARID overcomes these limitations by integrating VR's immersive experience with AR's ability to incorporate details of the physical environment, including natural lighting.
Realization and Technology
We developed ARID on the Unity platform, utilizing Meta's Mixed Reality Utility Kit and Quest 3 for its enhanced AR/MX capabilities. The project includes four key components: 1) Room scanning to acquire spatial anchors for walls, ceilings, and floors; 2) Generating virtual walls attached to these anchors; 3) A hand-based user interface enabling material changes (e.g., tiles, paint, or transparency); 4) A furniture interface to add preset furniture. We integrated the existing environment by using the OVR camera’s passthrough mode, allowing transparent materials to reveal the physical space behind virtual objects.
Operation and Interaction
The ARID system enables users to remodel a bathroom by integrating AR/VR technology. The user wears a headset and holds a left-hand controller, with a floating user interface attached to the controller. Interaction is seamless: users control the UI and the physical environment using intuitive right-hand gestures. Upon entering the bathroom, the user scans the space to create a detailed 3D model. With the left-hand controller, they can select elements like walls, ceilings, or floors, and change their materials—whether it’s switching paint colors, applying tiles, or making them transparent to see through the original wall.
Project Duration and Location
The project started in June 2024 in Hanover, NH and finished in September, 2024.
Specifications
The ARID application is designed and implemented by Unity and operated by AR/VR headset Quest 3.
Keywords
Augmented Reality, mixed realtiy, Meta, interior design, arhcitecture design, remodel

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Nominate