CHLORO

Effective lifestyle mixed reality apps should go beyond immersion and leverage features unique to the platform to solve real-world problems. In this example, the Quest 3’s ability to measure room dimensions and window sizes enables precise calculations of lighting conditions, which can be visualized to help houseplant enthusiasts make quick informed decisions about plant placement.

When showcasing a project on platforms like LinkedIn, creating a concise 30-second demo video focused on the most impactful interactions proved highly effective. This approach not only captures attention quickly but also encourages more targeted feedback on the app’s core concept and functionality, helping refine ideas and communicate the project’s value more clearly.

Before Chloro ever became an MR experience, it began as a concept for a consumer plant app that could offer better, more personalized recommendations. The idea was sparked after repeatedly killing my string of hearts plant.

Despite using a light meter, following online watering schedules, and combing through Reddit threads for troubleshooting, I still couldn’t figure out how to keep it alive. This frustration led to self-directed user research.

In Fall of 2024, I gathered user research from plant enthusiasts via Discord communities and plant posters around campus  with key questions being:

“I would LOVE to know which plant species I can realistically grow except a cactus!”
“How many times a day should i water my plant? Where is the best place to put my plant?”
“how much water does each plant get, and how often, what is the proper amount of light?”

“because it’s rewarding to see something grow with effort you put in, and because it spruces up the space.”
“I love having greenery in my appartment as decoration.”
“I feel like having plants in my house. I think they really add to the decor and vibe.”

Most houseplantcare apps on mobile rely on camera data to troubleshoot plants, but the app cannot give accurate instructions on how to treat the plant from there. Sunlight changes depending on where you live, what season you're in, the size and direction of your windows.

Months after the research, I joined the XR Design Challenge and began building Chloro.

Because Chloro targets houseplant enthusiasts, the flow needed to be simple and fit a “goldilocks” session length of about 20 minutes.This required careful iteration of the different interactions to be efficient, yet easy to use.

As I was developing this project solo, I started by prototyping to determine if my idea was feasible. I started by researching how the orientation of windows affect the amount of light enters your room, and having the scanned windows draw this dynamically depending on the room size.

As I continued developing, I decided to streamline this step by automating the process. Now, the user simply stands facing north, confirmed by using their phone’s compass, and presses a confirm button. The app then calculates the window angles automatically, removing the need for manual input.

Chloro started as a hackathon submission, but after gaining significant attention online, I began exploring its potential as a scalable product. Conversations with investors have opened the door to several possible business models:

There's so many people I need to thank for the creation of this project:
Thank you to immersive insiders for hosting the hack, it was an incredible event.
Thank you to AWE Builders Nexusfor giving me a platform to present and pitch Chloro to investors!
A special thanks to Minkyu Kim for creating the stunning motion graphic for my project, and to everyone who offered valuable feedback throughout this journey—I couldn’t have done it without your support.