Virtual Reality Experience | Duration: 5 weeks
Virtual Reality
XR Design
User Experience
Team Project
Overview
What is the project?
We used Unreal Engine 5 to create a VR app that immerses users in interactive stories, helping them connect more deeply with museum artifacts.
What did it involve?
Field research, storyboarding, level design, asset collection, blueprints and interactions, environment design, creation on Unreal Engine and user testing
Note:
This project is built on the systems thinking research conducted on the archival process in Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum. You can get the overview of the research here.
Preparing
Earlier Research
We expanded on our research of Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum's archival system. The aim was to create engaging experiences that encourage repeat visits. The experience pod was one solution.
Experience Pod
Experience pods immerses users in interactive stories about artifacts using smell, sound, temperature, movement, and a VR headset. To refine this idea, we developed an interactive VR narrative to explore the artifacts' stories.
Finding the artifacts
The artifacts we chose from the Kelkar Museum was the Mastani Mahal and the swords. We focused on strong storytelling and interactive features to help users learn about the artifacts.
Planning the build
Game levels began with a tutorial room then a main lobby with two portals: one for a Mastani Mahal digital twin, and the other for the Battle of Sinhagad with sword artifacts. We planned the interactions, timelines, and gathered the needed assets.
Mastani Mahal
Creating Mastani Mahal
We split our work into creating landscapes and designing interactions. Mastani Mahal is exploratory, allowing users to explore a digital replica since the real one is blocked off. Users visit booths to watch videos about Mastani’s story and collect earrings to unlock a performance by Mastani and her dancers.
Sinhagad Battle
Creating the Sinhagad Battle
In the Battle of Sinhagad, users follow Maratha warriors through jungles to reclaim the fort. They use sword artifacts to overcome obstacles, climb the fort walls, and uncover the story as they progress.
Testing and Closure
During development, we focused on distance, travel time, sizing, and visibility for the landscape. For the interactions, we prioritized ease of executing the iteration, comfort levels, range of motion, and engagement. Regular testing and rapid iterations with both our team and test users proved highly effective.
User Testing
We conducted testing on users and gathered their feedback by observing their movements within the game, their actions, their live feedback and questions and post session interview as well. We synthesized the feedback and applied it to the final project.
Final Output