Introduction / Overview

A school tour of UTAS after it moved to Hobart CBD. The purpose of which is to paint a negative picture of the idea.

Description of the application

The application is a VR simulation of what the move from Sandy Bay to Hobart, CBD could look like. The application shows a deteriorated building which is said to be the UTAS campus post-move, in the year 2077, further referencing a dystopian setting. You are guided by a robot with text above its head to go to a projector room where a video with dynamic audio will play; this video explains why the campus has deteriorated since the move.

This application’s creation is from the point of view of someone who is against the move, and therefore the purpose of the application is to provide a view of what the UTAS move to Hobart, CBD would be like. This application’s experience is very much over-exaggerated to apply a dramatic effect to emphasize that the move was (is) a poor decision. Due to the whole application focusing on the new UTAS campus, I believe there is a large significance placed upon the theme of the scenario, if not encompassing it wholly.

The VR technology is a necessity, especially in a fully-fledged version to be an immersive, negative and present experience. Without the use of VR technology, there is a significant detraction from the experience compared to a monitor. This detraction is caused by the need for immersion and presence, which simply cannot be achieved with a monitor as there is no depth, no touch through VR remotes, and no looking around through the human-like process of using your neck or body (versus a mouse) and you can leave the experience by looking away. Immersion in this context can be "defined as the extent of engagement a user experiences; the user expresses various emotions in a virtual space, and delivers them to the virtual environment" [1]. Whereas "the concept of presence refers to a phenomenon where users act and feel as if they are "being there" in the virtual world created by computer displays" [2]. Both are at the core of the application and hope to be achieved, of course if someone does not hold a strong opinion about the move, the player will be less present but the immersion should be the same among all users as it is objective and based on the design. According to one study, the use of VR in environments versus other media show improvements in "participants' experiences in terms  of cognitive and edutainment aspects" [3]  Not only this but  there was an increase in engagement, which in this context is vital. As it could be labeled as a political piece, some tension could arise around the topic and application but the VR format could invite in more people to test the experience, which is a further positive of the use of VR for this specific application.

Interaction Design

All sense interactions are necessary for this application as the purpose is to be immersive, which means all senses should be captivated; movement, visuals and audio are all displayed here.

An additional interaction is the ability to teleport, this is only necessary primarily for ease of use, but it also allows the ability to reach some parts of the map which would be unavailable otherwise.

Technical Development

The software’s application requires a VR headset, more specifically it was built using an Oculus headset. This application has interactions but the purpose of this application is to paint a theme of the negatives of the move of UTAS from Sandy Bay to Hobart, CBD. This means that most of the interactions are visual and auditory. The main active interaction is that the video playing in the projector room is based on distance from the player and therefore requires the player to move toward the room to interact with the video. The video also has dynamic sound and increases in volume as the player approaches the screen. Two other interactions are the ability to teleport for ease of travel with the VR controller, as well as moving using the joysticks on the VR controllers.

Descriptions of 3D Models

The purpose of this 3D model is to create a picture of what the university would look like, the initial purpose was an asylum. I used this asset as it paints a picture of the university deteriorating.

Robot Kyle’s purpose is to show the fact that it is further in the future, specifically 2077. This futuristic model is both a reference to Cyberpunk 2077 (which is set in a dystopian future) as well as to show that a significant amount of time had passed.

References

I used ChatGPT for coding, help with some parts of Unity and debugging:

https://chat.openai.com/share/895cdf8a-657e-4bff-8903-26c16f597322 accessed 20/08/2023 

Robot Kyle 3D Asset, Unity Asset Store 

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/characters/robots/space-robot-kyle-urp-4696  acquired 9/08/23

Abandoned Asylum 3D Asset, Unity Asset Store

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/urban/abandoned-asylum-49137 acquired 9/08/23

[1] & [2] ; Kim M, Jeon C, Kim J. A Study on Immersion and Presence of a Portable Hand Haptic System for Immersive Virtual Reality. 

[3] ; Baradaran Rahimi, F., Boyd, J.E., Eiserman, J.R. et al. Museum beyond physical walls: an exploration of virtual reality-enhanced experience in an exhibition-like space. Virtual Reality 26, 1471–1488 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-022-00643-5 accessed 21/08/23