katelynnvrblog

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Zander Reyna’s Talk

I really liked Zander’s talk. It was really interesting to have a talk in Mozilla Hubs! In addition, I really loved watching the progression of 3d animation in the MLB video game. It really showcased the advancement of technology, but even more so, it illustrated how important it is to start something with a smaller concept with a primary functionality and slowly and surely add more detail and more complex functionality over time. It was really amazing to see how much they had achieved in ~10 years working on the games. In addition, I really appreciated Zander’s feedback! It really helped me to focus my project on the function of being able to pick up mushrooms and throw them around, similar to Job Simulator. Something I had struggled with was focusing on just one thing to do in the experience that would be simple and kind of explain the larger picture of what it could eventually be, and I think his feedback really helped me shape that.

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Links for Macro Project

Midterm Slides

Survey

Final Slides

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Final Update of Project Priorities

At minimum 1.) Be able to pluck mushrooms **top priority** 2.) There should be a cabin 3.) Hozier music

Would be great if 1.) Get a basket for mushrooms to collect them 2.) Put bread in cabin 3.) Bonfire

[katelynnvrblog]

Neil Redding Talk

I found Neil’s talk really interesting because he discussed really practical applications for XR in the future. While other talks have been more about speculative spaces such as art, Neil really focused on how we might use XR for every day reasons. He also had a really interesting background and it seemed he wore many different hats throughout his career, which I found pretty inspiring. Sometimes I worry about developing a generalist skillset when so many companies (at least to me) seem to prioritize one specific set of skills, and really emphasize specializing. Specializing can be great of course, but I think when you’re a generalist, you’re really able to think about problems in multiple ways, which Neil mentioned in his discussion. I also think it’s fun to be able to try different things and to be encouraged to do different tasks in a job. People learn a lot more about how companies function if they’re able to help out with some other pieces that is not related to their primary position. In conclusion, I found this discussion on becoming a generalist really reassuring and positive!

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Martina Menegon & Wade Wallerstein + Leah Roh

I really enjoyed all of the speakers’ talks on virtual reality. It was really interesting to see the breadth of work happening in the virtual reality space right now, as I am very new to this field. I loved seeing all the artwork and virtual social galleries that Martina and Wade showed us. I didn’t realize there was such an extensive art community in the VR space, and it made me excited to think about the possibilities of creating VR art. I would love to maybe someday make a VR art piece once I have the skills to do so. For a while over quarantine, I had drifted from my art hobbies for some reason, but lately I have been getting back into it with classes and also I have been making a cardigan, and I just found Martina and Wade’s talk really exciting and motivating for me to create more work. 

I also found Leah Roh’s work super interesting. Specifically, I was really inspired by how she used VR to create social change. This is something I am interested in doing in my design practice through design thinking. I loved what she did with lube river, and I wish that she was able to continue that project. I agree that sex education is severely lacking. I attended Catholic school, so I only ever received abstinence-only sex education, and I had to learn a lot of stuff online, and I was very nervous for a really long time around that topic, and never felt comfortable talking to people about it. I think her project is such a cool way to normalize the conversation around something that shouldn’t be viewed as taboo, and I was really inspired again that she worked on a project like that. 

All of these artists were really inspiring, and really excited me about the VR space even more. It’s great to see what artists are doing and also feel like you can become part of an art space someday.

[katelynnvrblog]

Response to Regine Gilbert's Talk

I found Regine's talk super interesting! She has done a lot of really interesting work around the area of accessibility, and I always love hearing about all the different areas that go unaddressed for people with disabilities. I think it's a really great example of how we design for what we know in our own experiences, and design for our biases. So many companies refuse to think about accessibility because it's seen as a time-consuming challenge that won't yield any worthy amount of profit. I've never really understood this. Wouldn't making sure your product can reach the largest number of people be the most profitable? I think it just goes to show that a lot of companies are upheld by ableist people, when they have the resources to make inclusive design! I also found the exercise she did in the beginning interesting because when we were all describing what we saw visually, we all came up with different visual descriptions, which could yield very different experiences for a blind person. This is a very interesting problem. How can we ensure that blind people are getting the most accurate & engaging descriptions of scenes?

While I may not personally be able to include accessibility features in my project, aside from ensuring people are able to use the experience without getting motion sick (which is my own personal bias, and designing for myself because I suffer from VR motion sickness). If I maybe already had a major Unity project under my belt I would have considered adding contrast and other settings but for now I'm just focusing on getting through the basics.

[katelynnvrblog]

Survey Data Analysis

So I’m not really a spreadsheet person - excel kind of scares me, so I decided that I would write an analysis instead.

First, most of the people who took the survey were people who identified as women in their early 20s - about 75%. 

Secondly, I discovered that this group of people enjoys games where you can customize, collect, and and do puzzles.

Thirdly, 63% of participants do have escapist fantasies. These fantasies were majority around living in a small cottage and escaping society. Others were about living in fictional stories they liked. 

From this data, I found that my project aligns well with the interests and desires of the target audience. One thing that I would like to be able to add to the project, would be customizability or puzzle games. I will see how I progress in my project and what I have time for after creating the environment and doing some basic interactivity.

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Space Layout Plans

I mapped out how I wanted the space to look. I first mapped out the outside space, and then mapped out the interior, and made a little floor plan

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Phase 2 Macro Project

Week 1 - Work on Phase 2 - Gather assets - Week schedule

Week 2 - Sketch out environment on paper - Gather assets - Try putting large chunks of environment in unity, like house, garden

Week 3 - More large chunks in unity - Sound

Week 4 - Begin working on details - Figure out basic interactivity

Week 5 - User Test - More details - Interactivity

Week 6 - User feedback implementation - More details - Fix interactivity issues

Week 7 - Interactivity - User test

Week 8 - Test Feedback Implementation

Week 9 - Presentation

Target Audience: people in their homes looking to enjoy a calm game and explore an escapist fantasy. They probably enjoy games such as Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley. They should play for a little while, so they can explore the environment, and enjoy the interactivity. Probably they would come back for a relaxing time.

Conditions: I think the game would be best enjoyed in a home setting by one’s self, or with a friend/roommate watching on a screen. 

[katelynnvrblog]

Phase 01 Macro Project

Concept: This piece is an escapist fantasy, based on the cottagecore aesthetic that was popularized on TikTok this summer. It would be a game experience where you would live in a cute little cottage in the woods/in a meadow near some woods, where you would grow your own food, keep some animals, forage for mushrooms, and cook stews and bake bread. The purpose of the game is to indulge people in a calming escapist fantasy.

Moodboard: https://pin.it/20rrnqN 

Priorities: 

- Environment. I think the environment looking good is the most important thing. Even without interactivity, I think that if the environment is pretty and you’re able to walk around a large area, you would get a good feel for what the project is aiming for.

- Good music/sound design. 

- Interactivity. It would be great to get as much interactivity as possible within the time constraints. 

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CollaVRation Feedback Analysis

From our feedback, we realized we should further consider the ethical implications of our product. We discussed the possibility of a simple game instead of a real-life application, as someone in the class pointed out that the idea reminded them of Ace Attorney, a court-simulation video game they played as a kid. 

We also talked about the need to eliminate harmful human biases that may be embedded into the technology, such as racial biases. As we know, these biases can shape people’s perceptions, and can sway them away from making the most just decision in court. 

We also discussed the feasibility of having such technology in the courtroom. We’ve seen multiple examples of VR in the medical world, but found limited resources in VR in the legal field. Unlike medical procedures, it’s difficult to standardize legal cases as they vary by state and country.

If this technology emerges, we would have to make sure that this technology does not perpetuate the existing biases in our society and in law. There have to be guidelines in place to account for the implicit biases and to fix it. This should be fair and equal to assist both sides of the case. At the end of the day, while a VR experience can be exciting, this VR technology should ideally help the jury in the courtroom make a more informed decision.

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CollaVRation

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VR Play Experience

For this assignment, I tried out VR Chat and Rec Room. I found VR Chat to have a much stronger sense of presence in certain spaces. I felt like the graphic quality was a lot stronger than Rec Room, which style was a little too cartoonish to feel completely immersive. In VR Chat I felt totally immersed, except when it came to the mirrors. The mirrors kind of broke the experience and enhanced it at the same time. On the one hand, I got to see myself as the character, which was super cool. On the other hand, I couldn’t really turn around fully, and it reminded me that my legs did not really exist in VR.

I really want to like first person navigation. However, I got super motion sick both times I played. The nausea after playing 1st person lasts for about 20 minutes after playing which sucks. 3rd person is a lot better for me. Unfortunately though, the game I wanted to play in Rec Room, which was a recreation of the popular 2D game Among Us, required 1st person navigation, which makes sense given the nature of the game. I’m wondering how this will impact my exploration of VR going forward. The motion sickness also broke my experience of total immersion. If not for it, I definitely would have felt the experience to be much more real.

Something a little random to note - I was surprised at the number of children playing on VR chats. There were kids sounding about 10-13 on there, and I felt a little weird hanging out with them. It was an interesting experience nonetheless.

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Here is a short POV clip of me looking for an exacto knife at Jo-Ann's Fabric.

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9/22 Reading Response

I found the NYT article to be a bit overly optimistic about the beauty of the Internet's ability to bring us together in mostly positive and meaningful ways. Maybe in circles where people are a bit older than myself, escapism into the Internet has been an overwhelmingly positive thing, I have witnessed the re-emergence of many horrible communities on TikTok that I thought died on Tumblr many years ago. For example, the pro-ana movement (pro-anorexia/eating disorder) has found a platform again on TikTok, which is allowing yet another generation of young girls to be thrust into deep body insecurities, and praise them for abstaining from eating. It deeply saddens me that when we have made so much progress in the body positivity movement that the pro-ana movement can even exist online. With the upcoming election, social media has become re-politicized. Even on TikTok, which is a platform I use to escape political discussion on Twitter, has become an arena for political debate. Misinformation is also rampant on TikTok. Someone a few days ago began a trend where members of Gen Z would get matching tattoos. The tattoo design included the letter Z with a line through the middle, which is a Nazi symbol. Many impulsive and impressionable members of Gen Z immediately went and got it, and now have to get it covered or removed.

This escape into the Internet makes me feel like a kid again. When I was a young tween/teenager, I escaped into Tumblr sharing fanart of my favorite books/shows, and engaging with people who had similar interests as myself. I was part of a forum for my favorite book series, I wrote fanfiction and drew fanart. I spoke with my friends mostly via text/Skype about these things. Quarantine, in the most positive way has allowed me to revisit these aspects of myself. For a while, I did not have a lot of time to watch TV, or spend time on hobbies. However, now I've become re-engaged. I have watched so much TV, I've started watching anime again and I have picked up a few new hobbies. And, I'm really happy about it. These things really helped me strengthen my sense of identity which I felt I had been lacking for a while. I've also reconnected with a few friends, and stayed in touch with my good friends. In this sense, I do agree with the optimism and positivity of the NYT article. The Internet is a complex place, and I think that it's a little naïve to sing its praises when there are so many communities that simply should not exist.

The other article was also super interesting. The exploration of what is virtual reality vs grounded reality was pretty interesting. It made me think of Descartes' Meditations - how do we know we exist? Famously, his reasoning was "I think therefore I am," which I think make sense in terms of proving that I exist, but does not do much to assert that the reality I experience is true, or if the people or environments around me are real. Maybe in the true grounded reality I live in, I'm doing something like operating a VR headset to experience this existence. I find that a little funny, because experimenting with VR in this reality would be a little Inception-y a VR within VR.

The article later goes on to discuss the possibility of erasing biases through using VR. I was confused by the conclusion of the article - it seemed to be saying that people still can have biases in VR but it also VR holds immense potential for bias training. I feel like any game you play where you have an avatar and you can't hear someone's voice - you can't really have bias. I think the use of voice in gaming is often what leads to bias and harrassment of players in online gaming.

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Dreams

9/15

I dreamt that my friend Eliza had grown up on my street. She told me she would take the bus to school. I was confused why she never took the same bus as me. We found out that there were two buses that came to our street which made no sense. Then my "neighbor" walked by. She lived in the house at the top of my street that was owned by a couple who lived in the city and rarely visited. She invited us in. She told us her girlfriend lived in the woods behind the house. I saw her chopping wood, living like a lumberjack

Hiking. Walking alongside a steep cliff. Nervous.

9/16

something in idm

my dad found my tiktok bc one of my videos showed up on his for you page

9/19

In cardiac ward of hospital. Trying to close a long 2-doored single stall public bathroom. Im ushering my dad out one end telling him how I hate how smug liberals are. He's smiling bc he thinks I'm converting to conservativism. Im angry because Im not. And I hate how always says that. I'm a leftist. I have "real women vote for Trump stuck in my head." My dad thinks I'm gonna vote for Trump but Im not.

9/20

in a chaotic office. secret mission. boss asked me to do something but i objected bc i disagreed morally. he was mad and said i had to do it. i asked him why he even posed it as a question if i had to do it. he got more mad at me. danger.