§ 01 Overview
NASA First Woman combines a graphic novel, an AR-enabled mobile application, a website, and interactive educational content. The platform expands the Artemis program narrative through immersive storytelling and lets a public audience explore spaceflight concepts through augmented reality.
- 1.5M
- web page views
- 325K+
- app downloads
- 350K+
- graphic novels
§ 02 Scope & constraints
Scope
- Real-time XR mobile application with a single-screen experience per device
- Educational, public-facing content across app, website, graphic novels, and video
- Long-term initiative with multiple releases and iterations
- Scientific and narrative consistency across every visual format
Constraints
- Mobile performance budgets across iOS and iPad hardware
- Consistent UI behaviour in screen space and world space
- Reusable content architecture for multiple screens and aspect ratios
- Visual clarity without sacrificing scientific plausibility
§ 03 Artwork & environments
§ 04 My role
Interface & realtime
- Screen-space and world-space UI design
- UI shaders and partial environment rendering
Art direction & delivery
- Visual design and art direction: color, composition, and spatial consistency
- UX and UI design for the website and mobile application
- Marketing renders, print design, lighting, and selected interior-space detailing
- Ownership of visual and technical decisions, initiated and approved collaboratively
Motion & character
- Motion graphics for video intros, achievements, and narrative elements
- Facial-expression animation system for the robot assistant
§ 05 Technical solution
UI across spaces
Designed UI systems that operate consistently across screen-space and world-space contexts
Shader-driven control
Developed UI shaders that rank and position elements through UV offsets
Screen atlas automation
Built an automated Houdini system that packs screens with different aspect ratios into a unified texture atlas for efficient reuse and shader-driven control
Motion & prototyping
Used After Effects for robot facial expressions, motion graphics, intro sequences, and rapid web prototyping
Robot expression system
Created a procedural animation system for robot eyes and eyelids to produce expressive emotional states efficiently
Visual consistency
Maintained scientific plausibility and visual coherence across interface, environment, video, web, and print
§ 06 Recognition
| Award | 2022 Webby Awards — Webby Winner & People’s Voice Winner Integrated Mobile Experience |
|---|---|
| ISS | Content read aboard the ISS by astronaut Frank Rubio, 205 miles above Earth |
| Use & longevity |
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