My initial prototypes were driven by the high stress and being trapped inside

because of the pandemic. My social outcome i aimed to support was to create a

place for relaxation that would prompt visitors to relax. I knew that in order to make

this happen I would need to create a constrained environment and a backyard

setting quickly came to mind given that we have largely been stuck at home.

Some important crossroad in my project focused on whether I wanted to create a

real world place or a metaphor to showcase relaxation. I ultimately decided to make

an Alice in Wonderland type metaphor with happy clouds, big out of scale

environments to bring wonder to the immersive space.

From the prototyping I learned how to bring rough sketches into 3d sketches and

then morph these in Spoke to create a final vision. Playing with pieces and objects in

Spoke gave me a better idea about what was really possible from my sketches. I had

trouble constructing my exact vision because there were no snake plant objects in

Spoke without glitches. Laying things out helped inform me about space utilization in

the scene and allowed me the practice to fit all my objects into the small space it

became. Later on in the design process I had issues with scale of objects vs the

spawn point so I tested the sizing of both several times before I felt it was

appropriate.

I did not test my project prior to demoing with other people but I knew it felt like a relaxing place and had the cues needed to reach the objective. I expected users would find a spot to relax in and grab a cup of tea but they did not realize it was tea.

The user testing in class showed me that a relaxation space was a viable objective and function of VR spaces and that was delighting to witness. I was also surprised they reached the top portion of the back patio because I had trouble reaching it when testing and was worried that would be an issue. I was surprised how naturally George was able to sit and meditate and that Athena had so much energy in the space and that was fun to watch. One pattern across all projects I noticed was exploration from a child’s perspective and this was interesting to note. I also noticed that social spaces easily dictated interaction but this interaction was just as bumpy, awkward and mysterious as real life.

Various prototyping methods helped me develop my concept. Sketching with paper

and pencil gave me a lot of flexibility to figure out the layout of what I would be

designing and create a basic wireframe. Sketching with Multi brush took that to the next level allowing me to use different kinds of brushes to create 3D effects and think about the space and storyboard the scene by taking photos in VR and generating a Gif. This process really inspired me and got me excited. Finally Spoke brought my concept back to reality but gave me greater flexibility to create visual language with metaphor and allure. I really enjoyed the journey and think VR sketching will be a tool I use more and more in the future.