Moksha Jaiswal

Traces, Augmented Reality Application for Enhancing Spatial Discovery and Asynchronous Social Connection

Traces is an augmented reality (AR) experience designed and developed, that transforms everyday places into spaces of personal discovery and shared memory. In a world where navigation apps often reduce cities to routes and shortcuts, Traces invites people to slow down, explore, and connect emotionally with their surroundings. It allows users to leave behind digital memories, photos, voice notes, music, videos, or AR floating surprise elements to real-world locations. These memories, or “traces,” are only revealed when someone physically visits the spot, creating a sense of surprise and rewarding in-person exploration.

The experience is designed to be both personal and social. Users can choose to make their traces public, contributing to themed collections like Hidden Gems or Scenic Viewpoints, or keep them private, shared only with selected friends. This makes Traces not just a tool for documentation, but a way to build emotional connections across time and space.

The project responds to three key problems: routine paralysis, where people stop exploring their own environments; spatial amnesia, where places lose their emotional meaning over time; and asynchronous disconnection, where friends and communities struggle to share experiences when they can’t be together. Traces offers a gentle alternative to fast, feed-based social media by encouraging slower, place-based storytelling.

Technically, Traces is built using WebXR, a browser-based AR framework that works without needing to download an app. It uses the phone’s GPS and compass to detect when a user is near a memory, and then switches to AR mode and uses Radar to recognize and point to the trace. Through surface detection and spatial anchoring, the app places the memory in the user’s physical environment, allowing them to interact with it as if it were part of the landscape.

In the end, Traces is about slowing down and seeing places differently. It’s a way to bring back curiosity and connection to turn everyday spaces into something personal, something worth remembering. Because every place holds a story, and with Traces, you get to leave yours behind.