Bini Park
SOLO PRODUCT DESIGN · DEVELOPER · MOBILE & VR · CROSS PLATFORM
Haru
What if a virtual companion didn’t disappear the moment you left the headset?
A cross-platform mixed reality and mobile pet game that gives users a reason to return to MR as part of their daily routine
INFORMATION
Haru is a mixed reality companion that bridges your day between mobile and VR. Take photos of what Haru wants to eat on your phone, then return to your headset at night to feed and connect with him in your real room. Designed to feel alive, not controlled, Haru grows with your memories, creating a magical, personal routine one small moment at a time.
This was built for my senior thesis project, I developed Haru from 0 to 1, from concept and feedback to prototype and now preparing for launch on the Meta Store!
OUTCOMES
Exhibited at the Mosaic Popup Show 2025
Got 50+ beta tester & will launch it soon!
BLOG ABOUT HARU
HOW TO PLAY
CONCEPT
Mobile Phone
Receive a message from Haru
Haru will ask you to take a picture of something he's craving
Discover memory pieces hidden in the photo and send them to Haru
VR Headset
See Haru living in your room through mixed reality
Grab the memory ball you sent and feed it to Haru
Haru eats the memory, remembers it, and spawns a related object
Chill with him as Haru interacts with the object
PROBLEM
STRATEGY
DESIGN QUESTION
Can a cross-platform virtual companion foster emotional connection and daily habits that encourage users to return to mixed reality? If so, what is the mobile phone’s role in enabling and sustaining this experience?
PROBLEM
01 | Low VR Headset Retention ⟶ Users Don’t Return Daily
I kept noticing the same pattern in the MR industry: exciting ideas, impressive tech demos, and huge investments, yet very few apps or games actually stick in people’s lives.
02 | VR Sessions Can’t Sustain Long Use ⟶ Most Users Fatigue After 30 Minutes
Most MR experiences are limited to short bursts, around 20 to 30 minutes, due to physical discomfort, eye strain, disorientation, and device limitations.
This creates a major design constraint: if users can't stay long in MR, the experience must adapt.
03 | The emotional connection disappears once the headset comes off
One of the moments that made this clear was while playing Peridot. I became deeply attached to my virtual pet, but as soon as I took off the headset, the experience vanished. It felt like that connection had never existed.
04 | Gameplay is the only reason I return to the headset
Even though I use a VR headset daily for development, I realized that the only reason I personally return to MR outside of work is for gameplay. Extended Reality is still overwhelmingly associated with entertainment and gaming.
SOLUTION
STRATEGY
SOLUTION
The solution is cross-platform, connecting mobile phones and headsets by using the lifestyle device we already rely on daily. Instead of forcing VR to become a lifestyle tool, which it isn’t in 2025, we let the phone carry the daily touchpoints and the headset deliver emotional presence.
With cross-platform, we blur the boundary between digital and real not by creating two separate worlds, but by stitching them into one continuous reality.
WHY MOBILE PHONE?
Most people won’t put on a headset to check a to-do list and they shouldn’t have to. The friction is too high, and the habit isn’t there.
But everyone uses their phone. Constantly.
Phones are with us when we wake up, when we commute, when we pause between moments. They're not just accessible, but they’re already part of our emotional routine.
GOAL
STRATEGY
My main goal is to…
Validate if mobile-first interaction could re-engage users with MR daily.
How?
Create an experience where mixed reality becomes a natural part of daily life, not just a special occasion. By blending the VR headset with the mobile phone, I aim to turn fleeting tech moments into meaningful habits.
Through this cross-platform approach, I want to solve the retention problem in a playful and emotionally engaging way, making MR something people look forward to using every day.
SUCCESS METRIC
STRATEGY
I set a clear benchmark to guide my design direction:
60% of users should say they’d be more likely to return to mixed reality if mobile was meaningfully integrated into the experience.
I didn’t just hit that target. I surpassed it, giving me the confidence to keep building Haru as a daily ritual that connects mobile moments with immersive presence.
Screenshot of the responses
Challenge + Learning
STRATEGY
CHALLENGE
The biggest challenge I faced was articulating my idea clearly and structuring it in a way that others could easily understand and connect with.
For me, ideas usually begin with an emotional spark or a story I want to tell. Coming from an art and painting background, I naturally follow my intuition. But with Haru, I had to take that emotion and translate it into something more logical. I needed to explain what problem it solves, why it matters, and how it works. That part took time. It was difficult to make others feel what I felt, especially early on when I didn’t have all the words yet. I realized that having a strong idea is only the first step and you also need to guide others into your world and help them see the vision clearly.
LEARNING
⇾ So what I learn…
Learned how to articulate my ideas using data and logical reasoning to help others understand the value of the project
Gained experience in the full production process of building an app, from prototyping to testing
⇾ Other key learnings from this project..
Understood how to use Photon Fusion SDK and the difference between Host Mode and Shared Mode
Implemented passthrough interactions using Meta's MRUK and created responsive AI behavior for a VR pet
Improved project editing and presentation skills using Figma, Premiere Pro, and After Effects
Learned to reach out to experts in the field and found that many were willing to help when I showed clear passion and effort
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Final Trailer
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Short Trailer
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Design Process
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LATEST MAIN POSTER & CONCEPT SHOT
USER RESEARCH
USER TARGET
Haru is designed for Meta Quest users who feel a disconnect between their mixed reality experiences and everyday life, and are curious about building a more emotional, lasting relationship with their headset beyond just gameplay.
They want….
to use their headset for something more meaningful than gaming
a persistent emotional connection with a virtual companion, even with limited time during the day
a daily ritual that blends seamlessly into their real-world routines through their phone and headset
Pet Lovers
Lapsed Quest Users
SURVEY RESEARCH
To test my core assumption, I conducted a survey with over 150 people across different ages and backgrounds. I asked whether they’d be more likely to use a mixed reality headset regularly if the experience was connected to something they already use daily, like their smartphone.
MAIN GOAL QUESTION
Could a hybrid mobile and mixed reality experience become part of someone’s daily habit?
Screenshot of my reddit survey
Survey Result
THE RESULT….
Over 70% said they’d be more likely to return to their headset if more interactions happened through mobile.
Most respondents reported using their phones 4 to 6 hours a day.
Several shared that it would feel magical to see a virtual pet come to life in their real space, especially if it remembered past moments.
WIZARD OF OZ PLAYTEST
To test this hypothesis early on, I ran a Wizard of Oz playtest by manually simulating Haru’s mobile-to-headset interaction. I invited 12 friends to join a “picture prompt game,” where each morning, I sent a message like “Send me something blue” or “Find something cozy.” By the end of the day, they would respond with a photo.
THE RESULT….
Users didn’t just send pictures but they often shared personal stories behind them.
The photo activity became an act of reflection, not a task.
Participants looked forward to the daily messages from Haru.
This revealed a mutual emotional loop: it wasn’t just about Haru’s memory, but also the player’s own.
Screenshot of the responses
SKETCHES & STORYBOARD
IDEATION SKETCHES
Game Flow v1
Game Flow v2
FINAL STROYBOARD
HARU DESIGN
HARU CHARACTER
I chose a hamster-like form: small, round, a little clumsy, and big eye and feet. Hamsters are universally adored and often live in little habitats that people love to decorate, which felt like the perfect fit.
HARU BEHAVIOR
I chose a hamster-like form: small, round, a little clumsy, and big eye and feet. Hamsters are universally adored and often live in little habitats that people love to decorate, which felt like the perfect fit.
HARU MODEL
I collaborated with two amazing 3D modelers Jiyoon Oh & Hee Seung Chung, and rigger Avery Pendleton who helped bring Haru to life.
However, we had to rebuild Haru's model because the feet needed to be separated to allow walking animations without breaking the skin.
HARU ANIMATION
Thanks to Hee Seung Chung & Hyojin Shim, we were able to create 10+custom animation clips that brought Haru’s personality to life.
MOBILE PROTOTYPE
MVP - The loop turns your everyday life into memories for Haru.
Receive a message from Haru ➝ Take a real-world photo ➝ Discover a memoryball hidden in the image ➝ Send it to the headset
The mobile experience was designed to feel lightweight and habitual that something users could engage with quickly each day without friction. Mobile design went through a lot of iteration. Overall, I used Figma to wireframe the features and map out the user flow for the mobile experience.
v1 (Feature Overload)
Home screen included calendar, settings, time of day, and chat all at once
Haru hid inside his house which is cute, but the UI was overwhelming
➝ Takeaway : Remove unnecessary features and simplify user flow
v2 (Still Too Bloated)
Created a separate tab for talking to Haru
Kept some features from V1 for organization
➝ Takeaway : Playtests revealed most features weren’t being used
v3 (Focused Core Experience)
Stripped everything down to just two actions: sending images and receiving memory balls
Once the technical loop worked, I layered in the narrative
Added storytelling GIF to guide users through the interaction
➝ Takeaway : Simplicity improved clarity, and the emotional arc became more engaging
VR HEADSET PROTOTYPE
MVP - Interact with Haru that shaped by your real world
Receive the memoryball in VR ➝ Feed it to Haru ➝ Watch Haru react and roam ➝ Interact with Haru’s world using gestures and subtle behaviors
01 | Room Scanning
Room scanning was the first milestone
Tables, beds, and floors will be able to interact with Haru
➝ Goal: Turn your space into Haru’s evolving world
02 | Memoryball Appearance & Feeding
When a memoryball is sent from mobile, it appears on the table inside VR.
Players can physically grab the ball and offer it to Haru.
03 | Spawning memoryball
After feeding, memory objects tied to that memoryball appear.
04 | Memory Object Placement
Players can customize their environment by placing them on real-world surfaces.
Lock & unlock feature
Removed Lock & unlock feature
05 | Haru’s AI Behavior
Haru isn’t a puppet. He has preferences, habits, and moods.
Instead of controlling him directly, we gave Haru light AI autonomy:
Picks where to sleep, roll, and sit
Explores the space
Reacts to memory objects and player presence
KEY EXPERIMENTS
HAND GESTURE
I experimented with a wide range of hand-based gesture interactions, from snapping and pointing to double-palm spawning and petting. But most of them had to be removed. They were too complex for beginners and added unnecessary friction to the experience.
✋ Palm up to call Haru
🫰 Snap to toggle a lamp
👉 Point to direct him
👋 Hover to lock/unlock objects
✋✋ Double palm to spawn Haru’s house
🐾 Petting gestures (head, belly, etc.)
Key Takeaway ➝Fewer, more meaningful interactions are better than a large set of complex ones that confuse players and break immersion.
Through multiple playtests, I realized that most players either didn’t notice certain gestures, found the instructions unclear, or didn’t find them intuitive enough to remember or use naturally.
*IMPORTANT CHANGE
I noticed that players struggled with hand positioning to lock and unlock objects during playtests.
So I simplified it to proximity locking: walk away to lock, come close to unlock, with a white outline to show the interaction range. This made the system more intuitive and beginner-friendly!
Palm interaction to lock & unlock
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Proximity locking
Design Decision
Design Goal
Aesthetic Goal
Visually, I leaned into a toon-shaded look: soft outlines, gentle pastels, minimal shaders. I didn’t want Haru to feel realistic. I wanted him to feel charming. Something that would instantly make you smile.
Color Goal
Style Goal
The overall mobile design aimed for a cartoon style!
I hand-drew every scene, including the UI and instruction screens, to maintain a playful, illustrated vibe throughout the experience.
INTERVIEW & REACHING OUT
01| Getting Started with Fusion SDK (Thanks, Ruifeng!)
I reached out to Ruifeng Xu, a hackathon winner who built a mobile-to-XR project, to learn how they connected both platforms.
✳ Key Takeaway ➝ Fusion Photon 2 SDK is a solid starting point for cross-platform integration.
02| Connect to Fusion Professional
During my research, I discovered Philip, a YouTuber who specializes in using Fusion. I joined his Discord community to better understand the difference between Host Mode and Shared Mode, and to troubleshoot some prototype issues I was facing.
✳ Key Takeaway ➝ Switching to Shared Mode fixed the communication issue between Mobile (Sender) and VR Headset (Receiver).
Screenshot of Discord chat with Philip
03| Tech help from Aman
I reached out to Aman Bohra for help with capturing real-world images in MR to integrate into my game loop of taking pictures for Haru.
But wasn’t able to implement due to time constraints.
Screenshot of meeting with Amanchat with Philip
04| Feedback from Xin Xin
I received valuable feedback from professors and developers in the XR field throughout the development of Haru.
Their insights helped shape the core mechanics, simplify interactions, and refine the emotional experience
Screenshot of meeting with Xin Xin
What's next?
There are so many directions Haru could grow from here. I’m currently exploring:
A memory gallery system : where users can revisit their past photos in Haru’s world like a photo journal or scrapbook
Emotional tagging : letting players assign feelings to their photos (cozy, proud, peaceful) to influence how Haru reacts
Multi-Haru support : what if multiple players could connect their Harus and visit each other’s spaces?
Mobile widget + notification system : to let Haru gently nudge players with new memory prompts throughout the day
More personality AI : I’d love to explore simple language learning so Haru feels even more responsive over time
FINAL THOUGHTS!!
I believe the future of AI and XR lies in collaboration, not separation. Haru is my attempt at showing what that future could look like, one small step at a time.
Creating this was the hardest journey of my career so far, but it was absolutely worth it. I love where it ended up, and the best part is: it’s still growing. This is an ongoing project, so stay tuned for more!
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