Meeting with the Tutors and using the Visualisation Tool
On Tuesday the 28th of March we met with Barry and Shanny at BVN to get feedback on our progress as they were not able to attend the previous lesson.
Visualisation Tool
First, we went through our visualisation tool and demonstrated how it would be used to view different design iterations and change materials to see how the pavilion would exist in the space. The main concern was questioning how it would perform in VR in terms of frames per second as some of the models had a very high poly count. Barry suggested other people in the class should also use the VR headset to get a good sense of scale of the space and the design iterations. This would allow people to think of more realistic dimensions needed for their respective features and how they would accommodate multiple people in that space within the pavilion.
Some major observations of designs people observed after using VR were:
- Width of pathways
- Ceiling heights
- Exposure to light
- direction of flow
VR Experience
This was the most important part of the meeting as we were struggling with ideas on how to create a cohesive experience between stages. Barry and Shanny showed us good examples of VR games and how they get the player to familiarize themselves with the controls and the surrounding space. Furthermore, we discussed real ideas that will be used in our experience/game which also links back to our five stages of human stress reaction. The following are ideas and concepts that we will use:
- The game will start with the regular pavilion design as it is in real life. Once the player moves forward (triggering a collision box) the screen will fade to black and the player will then be in a darker and scaled up version of the pavilion. They would need to complete simple interactive tasks to advance to the next stage, this will act as a tutorial for the player.
- We will be taking inspiration from the game Portal, where the player needs to collect and place certain objects in specific areas to unlock doors and new levels. This relates to our theme as problem solving is a large part of stress response and mobilization. Problem solving in VR is also very effective in getting the player to forget their environment and focus on the issue at hand. (I will be working on the puzzle and problem solving aspect of our game).
- Audio and lighting will also be a big part of our experience as it will engage the player and add to a more realistic and immersive experience. Also by trying to use as little text as possible, audio can play a big role in grabbing the player’s attention and guiding them through an area.
Prototypes of this will be documented in upcoming posts.
