Creative Technology
Bachelor Thesis (2021)
Virtual Reality, Programming, Research, Environment, Game & Interaction Design
For my Bachelor's Thesis I created a VR application with Unity, that stimulates bodily movement through creativity
to improve the design process.
To achieve this, I researched Embodied Design principles, Embodiment and Virtual Reality interactions.
Overview
The goal of this project was to evaluate whether Virtual Reality can contribute to the design process by stimulating movement. This was researched through literature research looking at immersion, presence and embodiment; a background research on the State of the Art which covered existing Embodied Design Tools, games that stimulate physical movement and currently available VR platforms; and finally, an auto-ethnographic study of existing VR experiences which resulted in 5 themes.
These 5 themes were used to create a final prototype that would be evaluated with a user-test to see how these additions impacted the user's movement and their experience.
Results showed that Virtual Reality can contribute to physical movement in the design process. However, more research needs to be performed on the individual contribution of the elements on the user's movement.
MecaMind XR Demo (Graduation Project Creative Technology Bsc)
Features
Built for the Valve Index
Within Virtual Reality, users can immerse themselves into the creative experience and intuitively interact with the environment.
Built for the Valve Index and its Knuckle Controllers, this virtual reality experience makes use of the system's finger-tracking and haptics.
However, any other SteamVR compatible VR-headset can be used, but these may not work as well as intended.
3D Drawing Tools
The 3D-drawing pencil lets users create drawings in 3-dimensions thanks to the possibilities of Virtual Reality. The pencil's color can be changed using the various paint cans. The drawing size can be adjusted by scrolling on the trackpad. And errors can be corrected using the undo-redo buttons.
Change your perspective
Users can choose whether they want to see their work on a 2D canvas or in the world in 3D by placing the 3D-glasses on a pedestal.
Vinyl Music Player
Users can play music from several albums on Vinyl Records placed within the world. A remote can be used to change the currently playing song and adjust the volume to the user's preference.
The albums are selected based on their overall mood and energy, which can inspire both creatively and physically!
Fully Interactive Creative Environment
There are many objects placed within the virtual environment, most of which are physics based, which allows for many interactions.
Interacting with objects is easy, making use of the affordances of the objects to communicate their purpose. Some objects even have multiple purposes!
Living World
Occasionally, flocks of birds will fly over, adding life to the virtual world. What's more, trees will move with the music!
Challenges
Embodied Design Thinking
Relatively new Design Philosophy
As Embodied Design Thinking is still a relatively new Design Philosophy, the amount of tools available is limited or still in the research stages. This also meant that there are no tools available using technologies such as Virtual Reality. This in turn meant that I had to figure out how to design a VR-based tool used for design and how to integrate elements of Embodied Design Thinking on my own.
Virtual Reality
First time developing for VR & No previous usages
I did not have much experience with developing for Virtual Reality, besides one assignment from an earlier module. This meant that I had to learn how to use SteamVR in Unity, how to create controls for a VR rig and how to design and create interactions for Virtual Reality. A few weeks into development of the prototype I had to redesign elements of my interaction as I realized I was developing with the wrong mindset, having only worked on 2D screen applications before and not for VR where things can be done in 3D and UI functionalities can be mapped to objects instead. This resulted in more object based interactions making use of their affordances to communicate their purpose.
Stimulate Movement
How do you stimulate physical activity?
How do you stimulate users to move around and be physically active? This was one of the main design problems that I had to solve. I tried to solve this by adding in music as it can get users in the mood and more comfortable with the idea of moving around. Adding physics-based objects around the world also encouraged interactions that required movement.
Engagement
How do you engage users in a creative process?
How do you engage users in the creative process? What makes them want to use the objects in the virtual experience? For this I looked at elements of Game Design that are used to make interactions fun. For the drawing feature, this was done by adding particle effects and haptics that made you feel like you were drawing but also added some flair to your movements. Giving objects multiple functions also invited users to play around with the objects, some of which explode into other objects when thrown!
If you have any questions or want to contact me about my work, don't hesitate to contact me!