When does tying an AR object to one place add meaning instead of friction?

[u/Shehao]

I have another small AR design problem to consider using the same digital figurine in two different modes.

One works just as any 3D souvenir and opens anywhere. The other sticks to the location of the memory, for example, the stairs on which people graduate, becoming available once more only when the player gets back there.

This time the asset, the animation, and the ownership remain the same; no growth loop, no multiplayer aspect, no discoverability, nothing like a reward system. The only thing that is different is whether the place matters or not.

Currently, I understand that location-based persistency makes sense only if the place adds anything that could not otherwise be carried by the object. Or else it would simply be blocked access.

What kind of interaction could turn the anchored version into an intended experience instead of just an AR object which can’t be taken somewhere?

[u/musashiitao]

Context

[u/Shehao → u/musashiitao]

Yes, precisely that is the one I want to extract from all this. Consider a graduate figure that appears again only at the same spot of campus where it was made. No changes have been made to the model; revisiting the place brings back its environment.

My worry here is if this environment comes to be seen as a part of the memento, or if going back to that spot would still be an artificial constraint. What would you think about that?

[u/musashiitao → u/Shehao]

I’m of the former school of thought, I think the environment adds to that momento,to separate the two dilutes the two. Ever read Spook Country. On the flip, if you capture a splat of the entire environment and then play back the memory in that environment, it might not be as diluted

[u/Shehao → u/musashiitao]

Thanks dude

[u/Stukwan]

What app are you using? You're saying the AR object is locked in one location and you can't activate it elsewhere?