Mi-Car

Anh Ly



miCar is your car’s avatar that tells you when it needs fixing! Using augmented reality and mobile, miCar takes the traditional instruction manual and turns it into a fun and intuitive how-to guide for car mechanics.

Background
In college, my parents gave me a car on the condition that I take care of it. I readily agreed, even though I had no idea what maintaining a car entailed. When I looked under the hood, all I saw was a jumble of tubes, metal and wires, and the owner's manual did nothing to alleviate my confusion. I’m not alone. There are 194 million drivers in the U.S., and most of us don't have a clue about the machines they operate.


Femme Den: http://www.femmeden.com/

In Queens, Redefining the Mechanic: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/nyregion/pasiana-rodriguez-redefines-mechanic-in-willets-point.html

What Women Auto Know: http://www.greatbearautoshop.com/

Tama Town (Tamagotchi): http://www.bandai.com/tamagotchi/

Implementation
I intend to design a mobile platform that reflects on the research described above to educate people on basic car mechanics. I also intend to implement a live prototype of an augmented reality how-to guide on the Android platform.