MarketsXR is a Financial trading platform in Mixed Reality designed for the Apple Vision Pro that makes online transactions fast, reliable and secure than ever before.
Markets XR
It employs Eye gaze tracking for biometric authentication, eliminating the need for user data. This method effectively minimizes security breach and data leak concerns to nearly zero.
Timeline
7/02/2024 - 28/04/2024
Domain
Finance Technology
User Experience Design
User Interface Design
Advanced Security Systems
Human Cognition
Responsibilities
Research
Sketching
Prototyping
Authentication
Visual Interaction
Mixed Reality Design
Tools
Adobe Creative Suite
Figma
ShapesXR
Procreate
The project was a part of my academic work guided by Royal College of Art London's Senior Tutor and well-known Writer Adrian Shaughnessey
The Process
Research
Identifying the issue
Secondary data
Existing solutions
Market Insights
Integration
User persona
User journey
Information architecture
Crafting
Style guide
High-fidelity
User interface
Visual Stimuli
Prototyping
XR prototype
Security system
RCA XR Lab
Reflections
User testing
Future work
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Input methods for Mixed Reality are fairly complex and not intuitive with headsets having controllers, voice commands, eye trackers and more. Because of all this, it creates friction for technology to move towards mass adoption, limiting to showcase the potential.
Input Methods & Security Systems for XR
Virtual keyboards
Hand-held controllers
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And online frauds have reached a new threshold in today’s world with over £1.2 billion stolen by criminals through authorised and unauthorised fraud in 2022, equivalent to over £2,300 every minute.
Therefore, there was a crucial need for better security systems especially for Mixed Reality, that could leverage new techniques that were never possible before.
Having one of the discussions with my HOD Prof. Christina, she advised me to systematically tackle the challenge starting with literature review, synthesis, integration and so on. Hence I read a bunch of literature papers around Mixed Reality and Security Systems and synthesized their pointers onto a map.
Finally the map became so extensive that I had pin it up and grasp it as a whole.
Eventually I realized existing systems would not be an ideal choice and something more had to be searched for. Input methods and mainstream Mixed Reality Devices would need a better, and more importantly a secure way of handling financial transactions down the decade.
Iris Formation and Security
With the Apple Vision Pro being launched, it offered an extra security layer of Optic ID which meant it scans the Iris formation of your eyes and uses that data as a biometric authentication system
But in today’s world, data is the new gold and anyone having access to your iris data could jeopardize you in identity exploitation. Therefore, I strived to find an authentication system that is not data reliant, cannot be hacked in data breaches or replayed and is more secure.
Even then after so much security, Joseph Ravichandran hacked into the Apple Vision Pro with Optic ID being implemented. This alarmed me to keep searching for a better method
Even though Apple had a better way of authentication compared to other brands, it still lacked in some aspects. For example, Touch ID was not all reliable because finger prints are transferable with tape. Face ID was not an option either identical twins could still unlock each other's iphones.
And Optic ID has recently been introduced so it will still take some time to be implemented.
Hence, I kept searching for a security method that was reliable, non-transferable, unique to identical individuals and not-data reliant as well.
Standing on the Shoulders of the Giant
During my literature review, I came across a research paper from Oxford University's Ivo Sluganovic. As I read the paper, I found that he elaborated a technique that was very similar to what I was searching for.
Theoretically he explained how his proposed method of eye gaze tracking could potentially solve many security concerns for mixed reality and upcoming newer devices.
He talked about Eye-gaze tracking that generates new visual stimuli every time to analyze reflexive eye movements with fixations and saccades to determine authenticity.
Moreover these stimuli are random and newely generated every time so that they cannot be replayed, transferred, shoulder-surfed and do not require any other bodily gesture inputs except eyes.
Along with the data surveys about users using passwords/pins as per their convenience, he also mentioned that in mixed reality passwords/pins are-
Are hard to create/recreate
Are hard to remember
Take a long time to input because the ray-cast pointers are not stable and accurate
And as with all passwords, are easy to forget.
Simple to guess
Exploit after system breach.i.e. the financial data stored on brand servers when gets leaked, or broken into, then this data which contains credit card information and more is sold on the dark web for thousands of pounds.
Can be shoulder-surfed and are quite vulnerable in mixed reality as the observer can notice where the pointers relatively might be and therefore guess the password/pin.
Also they are transferable to others which makes them less secure no matter how complicated the password.
For attackers they are-
Hence, I decided I would implement his method and design a system for the user to understand it better.
User Persona
User Journey
With all this, the project direction became a lot clearer and concrete for me.
For the user persona, I chose someone working in the financial trading firm. As the technology advances, they are the early adopters, constantly experimenting with how they can leverage it into their work. This showcased real problems with existing work patterns and gaps to make it better.
Having set the user persona, it made substantially clearer about how their day-to-day tasks might look and where all would problems occur. With understanding their routine and how different instances break their workflow, I was able to map out specific intervention pointers.
Information Architecture
Creating an information architecture flow was essential to identify which process parts required authentication intervention and which parts needed modals and secondary modals.
By focusing on prototyping, I could test and refine complex interactions in a more dynamic environment, ultimately leading to a more intuitive and engaging user experience
This structured approach ensured a clear understanding of the user journey and interaction points, allowing to design a seamless and secure user experience.
Additionally, since this was an experiment-based approach, instead of doing initial wire framing, more time was given to prototyping in mixed reality phase.
Having multiple pages filled with notes during discussions, and critiques throughout the project, I added a few of them to validate my design decisions which emerged as a collective response.
These were just 1/3rd of the screens designed.
Style Guide
Choosing the right font, weights, pre-defined sizes, iconography, and colors ensured that it followed the Apple design guidelines for the Vision Pro.
The entire dynamic scrollable screen with other features of the platform like currency converter, detailed analysis, stock suggestions, industry bifurcation and scheduled trades
User Interface for Markets XR
The homescreen visualizes a summary of all your essential information required to be checked like cash, buying power, assets, market headlines and more. The screen follows with a dynamic scroll that leads to more detailed insights about user's account.
Color coding progress bars and profit & loss makes it easier for the user to grasp. Since the user base was wide, I had to make sure that every feature was well aligned with the overall platform and must not overpower anything.
User interface for Eye Gaze tracking which generates random visual stimuli and authenticates using gaze movements of saccades and fixation.
Biometric Authentication System
It displays modals and secondary modals with visual hierarchy keeping design details consistent.
Online traders is a community of people who require fast, reliable, secure and easy input methods for passwords/ pins.
Moreover, not only mixed reality provides with spatial landscape and multiple window scenario for traders which is the most portable and immersive than laptops, or smartphones, it also offers better security systems which cannot be hacked with financial risks that traders have to deal with.
The platform has two biometric authentication systems available to choose as per their choice. Traders who would not mind sharing their Iris formation data could use existing optic ID. And traders who wish to have more security could use Ivon's Eye Gaze Tracking method which is more secure and eliminates data-driven authentication.
This gives users secure transaction systems for their financial interactions with the world keeping it consistent, intuitive and more secure than ever before.
Eye Gaze Tracking
I designed the user interfaces for both of the user flows, so that it can be aligned with platform's design language.
Convert Money
In addition to better security systems, users can also convert and transfer money to different bank account, without needing for two-factor authentication or OTP methods.
Multiple international currency support.
This way traders can get varied features in just one small mixed reality device, compared to their 6 screen non-portable work setup.
Daylight Conditions
The design has been consciously executed keeping in mind daylight conditions ranging from day to night.
Office
Park
Balcony
Cafe
User Scenario
Additionally, the design also enables the user to interact with the platform in different surroundings from example like an office, a cafe, park or a balcony.
Prototyping Interactions in Figma and ShapesXR
Explore more prototyping videos at the link.
The platform has been prototyped and tested in Meta Quest 3 with inspecting parameters such as legibility, proportion, font weight, overall design language and multiple window scenario.
Thats me prototyping and testing the MarketsXR platform in Meta Quest 3 at the XR Lab RCA.
Learnings include sense-based layouts need to be prototyped for design interventions and incremental innovation more thoroughly.
One of the process pictures while developing the 3 minute pitch video at RCA Computer Lab.
The platform has also been user tested to understand the physical aspects and the relation between design decisions and the impact of human vision.
This way, I was able to iterate the design process and improve upon existing designs to better suit user environments.
User Testing
The changes and insights recorded during the user testing part have been noted, and I have already started iterating them to prototype again.
I acknowledge the significance of user testing, especially in terms of user experience and Mixed reality parameters as it can have a lasting effect on the user.
