At the beginning of the project, I started quite broadly, exploring a range of different areas and themes rather than focusing on a single problem straight away. Initial ideas included topics such as social media, communication, beauty, women’s health, and early exploration into neurodiversity and sensory processing, as I was trying to identify potential problem spaces that felt meaningful to explore.

From this, my focus began to shift towards fitness and wellbeing, particularly around how people engage with exercise and motivation. I explored issues such as lack of motivation, repetitive indoor exercise, and feelings of isolation when training alone.

This led me to start developing ideas around fitness motivation using immersive technology, including concepts such as AR and VR experiences that could make exercise feel more engaging and interactive. I explored ideas like virtual environments, social fitness experiences, and AI-driven systems that could respond to mood, environment, and performance to help maintain motivation.

Alongside this, I looked into fitness trends and behaviours, which reinforced this direction. This research highlighted that lack of motivation, time constraints, and engagement are key barriers to regular exercise.

Overall, this early ideation phase helped me narrow my focus towards fitness-related experiences, particularly those that combine technology, feedback, and user engagement. It set the foundation for exploring how digital systems could move beyond passive tracking and instead actively support users during physical activity.