📌 Project: Cyclops AR Filmmaker Tool
👤 Role: Sr. Lead Product Designer · Tablet UI Specialist
🏢 Company: The Third Floor (Global leader in visualization for film, TV & immersive production)
📆 Timeline: 2021 – 2022
⚡ Focus: Augmented Reality · Film Production Tools · iOS Tablet UX
🛠 Services: UI · UX · User Research · Usability & Device Testing
🎯 Impact: Redesigned and optimized Cyclops AR, an award-winning iOS app that allows filmmakers to seamlessly integrate CG objects into real-world environments for previsualization. Collaborated with directors, VFX teams, and engineers to refine ergonomics and haptic gestures for two-handed tablet use. Enhanced depth-of-field object placement and still-capture workflows, enabling real-time scene planning on set and in studio. The project earned the 2021 Lumiere Award and positioned Cyclops as a cutting-edge AR production tool.
Filmmakers and VFX teams lacked an intuitive, portable way to visualize CG assets on set. Traditional simulcam systems required heavy equipment, limiting flexibility during scouting, blocking, and production. Directors, crew, and cast needed a tool to seamlessly integrate previs assets into real-world locations, but existing workflows were fragmented, non-collaborative, and technically complex.
Cyclops set out to solve this by delivering a streamlined AR filmmaker tool that ran natively on iPad, but it faced challenges around usability, ergonomics, and large-scale asset navigation.
🎥 Simulcam Limitations — Traditional setups were bulky, non-mobile, and inaccessible to non-technical team members.
📱 Tablet Ergonomics — Designing for two-handed use while supporting complex interactions required thumb-accessible controls and simplified navigation.
📂 Dense Asset Libraries — Filmmakers needed to quickly access, preview, and manipulate large volumes of CG assets without breaking creative flow.
🌍 Anchoring & Continuity — AR experiences often lose alignment; persistent anchoring systems were needed to maintain asset placement between sessions.
🔍 Collaboration & Accessibility — Multiple crew members had to use the tool interchangeably, demanding clear UI, fast onboarding, and intuitive controls.
Cyclops is a streamlined simulcam solution, able to be deployed on hand-held devices. Using Cyclops, filmmakers and their teams can easily visualize CG assets at a real set or location and get a sense of the VFX action being shot.
To balance professional-grade functionality with ease of use, I created a clean, modular UI optimized for handheld use in high-pressure production environments.
Ergonomic UI Patterns — Designed slide-out drawers, large tappable buttons, and customizable controllers for thumb-friendly navigation.
Gesture-Driven Interactions — Integrated tap gestures for closing menus, resizing, and rotating assets with minimal friction.
Responsive Taxonomy — Built a scalable asset navigation system with clear icons, categories, and search, reducing lookup time across thousands of files.
Anchoring System Integration — Designed flows for GPS + point cloud anchoring, ensuring persistent placement of CG assets across shoots.
On-Device Testing — Conducted extensive Figma prototyping and device testing to validate comfort and usability under real filming conditions.
This reel highlights real-world user testing of Cyclops, capturing directors and VFX teams interacting with the AR filmmaking tool. By observing hand placement, ergonomics, and gesture-driven inputs, we refined the interface for comfort and speed on set — ensuring Cyclops could be passed between crew members and used intuitively in high-pressure production environments.
Left Side Menu
Left Side Menu Variants
Distance Vertical Tool
Adding a Right Thumb Controller
Hamberger Menu Touch Tap
Alt Left Menu Tab Selected
Playback Controller
Alternate Mode: setting an object in Z Axis
Settings Modal
Settings Modal 2
Video Capture Log w Playback
Video Capture Log w Playback Controls Access
Video Capture Log w Playback Alt Version
Cyclops transformed AR previsualization into a portable, crew-friendly experience. The redesigned app reduced onboarding friction, allowed faster placement and scaling of assets, and introduced depth compositing, lighting, and lens controls in a lightweight package. Post-launch, production teams reported:
30% reduction in asset lookup time
Faster onboarding for new users, including non-technical crew members
Improved production coordination with fewer pipeline bottlenecks
Recognition with the 2021 Lumiere Award for innovation in virtual production
📉 Reduced Lookup & Onboarding Time — Simplified UI and responsive taxonomy accelerated asset management and crew ramp-up.
✅ Improved Production Efficiency — Enabled faster scene planning, blocking, and collaborative decision-making on set.
🎬 Award-Winning Innovation — Earned industry recognition with the Lumiere Award for advancing AR-driven filmmaking.
🧭 Persistent AR Anchoring — Introduced reliable GPS + point cloud alignment for continuity across sessions.
📱 Crew-Friendly AR Tool — Designed for quick handoff between directors, VFX teams, and cast, ensuring accessibility at every stage of production.