chrisp

Samsung 2017–2019

Bondi

Bondi was a Samsung initiative to build a consumer AR headset with Microsoft. Our team led the early work, building custom hardware and apps to explore AR in everyday life.

Creating in AR Bondi interaction prototype

The starting point

Getting AR into consumers’ hands

After Samsung acquired VRB, our team joined Samsung Research to explore emerging XR technology. I focused the team on turning that research into consumer products. Having spent years seeing the barriers to VR adoption firsthand, we turned our attention to affordable consumer AR.

A flat screen can’t convey how an XR experience feels. We needed people to put on a headset and try it for themselves. So we built our own headset to test ideas, get meaningful feedback, and learn what was worth developing.

My scope
I led and scaled an XR design and engineering org. On Bondi, we became Samsung’s first prototyping team, exploring use cases and developing working AR experiences.

The opportunity

HoloLens had a head start. Samsung had the reach.

We started engaging with the HoloLens team as Microsoft wanted to open a path to a consumer headset. They had some of the most advanced AR technology at the time, but had mostly been selling to enterprise customers.

Samsung brought a phone ecosystem and the ability to manufacture hardware at consumer scale. Microsoft wanted to share the development load and knew Windows might not be the path forward for low-power consumer wearables. Together, there was a path to bring AR to a much wider audience.

We met Mira early on and 3D printed a custom version with the same optical lenses. A Samsung phone and simple reflective optics gave us an inexpensive platform for testing AR experiences.

Mira Prism headset with a black headband and clear curved visor
Mira Prism, the starting point for our prototype.

The explorations

What would make AR part of everyday life?

We started by exploring how phones and headsets could combine into a consumer ecosystem. We turned the best of those ideas into simple, working AR prototypes to see what people could do with these paired devices.

A robot-building workbench with virtual instructions, a video tutorial, and contextual controls
MAKING WITH INSTRUCTIONS
Four friends around a tabletop game, with virtual creatures and costumes seen through AR headsets
AR BOARD GAMES
A person outdoors wearing an AR headset, with a virtual map and information beside them
VIDEO ANYWHERE
Two people at a cafe sharing virtual documents and interface panels
VISUALIZE WORK
Two people arranging virtual screens and characters around a living room
DECORATE AND RE-DESIGN
A parent and child sharing playful AR effects with people joining on video calls
FAMILY CONNECTION

01 / Use cases

Initial brainstorming

We explored over 100 consumer AR concepts focused on everyday life. Below are a select few examples.

A meeting-room booking interface placed beside a doorway Room booking Check availability and book a room at its door. A music player displayed above a physical speaker Music controls Place playback controls above the speaker. Vehicle information overlaid on a parked car Car information See mileage, range, and tire pressure on your car. Translated labels attached to objects on a desk Language learning Learn words through the objects around you. A circular virtual window into the next room Through the wall Peek into another room through a virtual window. Product information and shopping-list cues on grocery shelves Grocery assistant Find what you need and avoid allergens just by looking down the aisle.

Selected use-case explorationsOpen any image to explore

02 / Prototyping

Build it & try it

The prototypes gave us something tangible to use, discuss, and iterate on. We built dozens of experiences and used them to define interaction standards for the headset.

Working AR prototype Demo 171207 · 0:35
Create, move, and replay Animation prototype · 0:13

Create a cube, move it through space, then play back the animation.

Color in 3D Color prototype · 0:08

Choosing and changing colors directly in the 3D scene.

03 / Design patterns

The phone brings it all together

Our first headset was driven directly by a Samsung phone. Samsung’s existing phone ecosystem was a major advantage. Bringing people’s apps, contacts, and preferences into AR was table stakes. We wanted the phone to become a proper companion to the headset, with each device making the other more useful.

Drawing in 3D with the phone HoloLens capture · 0:24

Using the phone as a drawing tool, with strokes appearing in the room around you.

Phone integration Prototype excerpt · 0:28

The phone’s controls change to match the app in the headset.

A phone screen reveals virtual molecules in a shared XR scene with two people holding controllers
See what’s happening in XR Phone companion concept

The phone gives people outside the headset a view of the shared experience.

A person wearing Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset against a lavender sky
Samsung Galaxy XR · 2025

Released after my time at Samsung. I wasn’t involved in this product.

Outcomes & learning

An early chapter in Samsung’s XR work

Decision

We focused our XR research on affordable consumer AR, using Samsung phones and simple headsets to explore everyday experiences.

Outcome

Our team explored dozens of consumer use cases and built working AR experiences to help shape Bondi’s direction. The project continued after I left Samsung in 2019. The original Microsoft partnership didn’t pan out, but our work directly influenced the Galaxy XR.

Learning

Build just enough to learn. Simple hardware let us test ideas early and find what was worth developing. No matter how early an idea is, there's always some way to validate it.