Hey all,
I’ve been building an experimental mobile AR project called SEL (Synthetic Emergent Lifeform) using Unity Engine + AR Foundation, and I’m trying to explore something I don’t see much in AR right now—tension instead of comfort.
The loop is built around scanning your real-world environment to locate anchored caches (currently testing with VPS-style placement inspired by Niantic’s approach). As you collect resources, the system gradually destabilizes—visual distortion, signal interference, and eventually a forced encounter before extraction.
The key design idea:
You can extract anytime and keep what you’ve gathered
But pushing deeper increases reward and the chance of losing everything
So instead of AR being passive or playful, I’m trying to make it feel like:
something is building up around you the longer you stay
Right now I’m experimenting with:
Spatial warping effects on meshes / particles to create a “far but close” feeling
Audio + haptics tied to proximity and signal strength
A final encounter system that triggers based on player greed (not time alone)
I’m still early in alpha, so I’m mostly trying to answer:
How do you create presence in AR without overloading the user visually?
What’s the line between tension and frustration in a real-world context?
Has anyone here experimented with making AR feel “hostile” instead of safe?
If anyone’s working in a similar space or wants to sanity check ideas, I’d love to compare notes. Also happy to share a build with a few people if you’re curious how it feels in practice.
Appreciate any thoughts.