Student Spotlight: Diana Olynick

Meet Diana

Meet Diana Olynick, an engineer and XR Designer currently living in Canada. Diana also happens to be a former Circuit Stream student — she took two full courses — XR Development with Unity and Interaction Design & Prototyping for XR.

Aside from becoming certified in these two Circuit Stream courses, Diana is the founder of M4 Method. Her agency designs business applications and XR virtual environments and experiences. M4 Method is a remote working studio located in Winnipeg, Canada, capable of deploying apps and projects anywhere in the world.

One of Diana's main endeavours is to explore the intersection of business, technology and art. She also hosts a talk show called "The XR Magazine”, available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify, where she interviews XR founders and creators. She often asks guests to share their learned experiences and how they're changing the world with XR.

Diana's Deep Dive Into XR

Diana also has taken a significant interest in the tiny house movement and the minimalist lifestyle. She has expressed interest in creating an app where developers could build a digital model of a tiny home. People could use the Oculus platform, put on a VR headset and become immersed in a tiny house. Diana says, "Many people don't know how it is to live so small — is it going to be a good fit for my lifestyle, will my furniture fit?"

Because of Diana's background, it's no surprise that she would want to tackle projects that combine XR technology with interior design. Other AR interior design apps are on the market, such as Houzz, MagicPlan, Dulux Visualizer and IKEA Place. Diana may take on this project, so keep an eye out for tiny home XR apps in the future.

Diana's Journey With Circuit Stream

Once Diana got her start as an engineer, it didn't take long for her to realize that 3D or XR would drive the next iteration of app development. Diana has a genuine interest and curiosity in technology and how it can be used. After working on yoga and meditation apps, she became more curious about XR. She spent a lot of her time researching potential programs or courses she could enroll in to build upon her knowledge.

After researching courses at Circuit Stream, Diana joined the community to learn more about XR and if the classes were right for her. Diana admits she was initially hesitant to enroll in any courses and join Circuit Stream. Once she got the ball rolling, in Diana's words, "It was the best decision I've ever made." Circuit Stream offered exactly what Diana was looking for, and it felt like the perfect fit.

One of Diana's most memorable moments was participating in the Circuit Stream Demo Day. At this event, she was able to show off one of the XR projects that she had worked on in the Interaction Design and Prototyping for XR course. The project was a VR app called "Wisdom," which is an app designed to support self-discovery.

Diana has also worked on virtual architecture showcasing her work as an official creator at Spatial.io, and worked for clients projects like her recent University Campus and a Fashion Showroom.

She has created AR filters in SparkAR and other projects in Effect House that have received more than 100 M views. Diana's message for anyone interested in taking a Circuit Stream course is to take advantage of office hours. Diana says, "It's not just your class … you have peace of mind that someone else can help me." Diana was ecstatic about the skills she learned in the Circuit Stream courses because of how valuable they are.

Into the Future

As for Diana's plans, the Wisdom app is still a work in progress, and it's intended to work with the Oculus 2 platform. Plus, recently, Diana received the honor of being accepted to the Oculus Launch Pad Builder Track for Horizon Worlds.

Check Diana’s “Wisdom” App presentation during Circuit Stream Demo Day:

Diana is also working on another exciting XR project, called AR Cooking, with a colleague. Diana partnered up with Daniel Marqusee, a UI/UX designer who has experience in Shapes XR for storyboarding and prototyping. AR Cooking is a recipe app based in AR that solves the problem of holding a device while trying to cook — the goal of the app is to help users freely follow a recipe and take quick recipes on the go.

Diana also mentioned that she might seek funding to further develop some of her other XR projects.

You can get a hold of her at hello@dianaolyick, on all social media as @dianaolynick.