Are We There Yet?
A spatial micro-navigation system for the confusing final steps of a journey.
The title comes from the familiar question a child asks during a long journey: “Are we there yet?” Indoor navigation creates the same feeling when the destination is close but the next turn is uncertain.
Inside the experience
What someone can actually do
- Record a route from point A to the exact destination
- Replay it through custom spatial guidance
- Use landmarks and contextual prompts for reassurance
- Discover interactive Easter eggs along the way
- Adapt the same framework to hospitals, airports, campuses, museums, hotels, offices, and rentals
How the idea took shape
Traditional maps can reach a hospital, airport, campus, museum, hotel, office, or Airbnb. They often stop before the exact room, gate, desk, exhibit, lockbox, or door.
That final mistake can mean a long correction. In a hospital, the person navigating may already be stressed, tired, or physically unable to walk much farther.
The team created Are We There Yet? during a Stanford XR immersive hackathon in Jensen Hall Auditorium. The prototype recorded a custom route from point A to point B, then replayed it as spatial guidance.
Interactive Easter eggs inspired by the Stanford XR bunny mascot added context to the route. One asked people to look right, revealing the original Google server displayed in the lobby. Judges and participants said they would never have noticed it without the experience.
That reaction showed that spatial navigation can do more than provide directions. It can help someone notice, understand, and engage with the environment around them.
For an Airbnb guest arriving late at night in a new country, a host could record the complete final route: from rideshare drop-off, through access codes and a lockbox, up the correct stairs and hallway, to the exact room. The same idea can reduce uncertainty anywhere the map ends too soon.
“Last-mile navigation is not only a direction problem. People need reassurance, landmarks, and human context at the moment the map stops being useful.”
Explore how it was built +
I co-created the concept, designed the spatial interaction and contextual-waypoint experience, and developed the Lens Studio prototype.
- Snap Spectacles
- Lens Studio
- TypeScript
- Spatial waypoints
- Lens Cloud
Where it could go next