Bachelor of Creative Technologies

BCT Project Documentation

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List of Relevant Blog Posts

Group Name Wander

Group Members James Robinson-Togia Bhumika Patel

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/663004411563573248/sem-2-pt-2

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/665820731492401152/app-research

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/665823693471154176/app-logo-and-sketches

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/665827816536965120/sprites

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/665830589104078848/prototypes

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/665931261060284416/final-ui-design

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/666114105222070272/final-project-video

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Final Project Video

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Final UI Design

James and I decided to go with this UI design for the final app.

We came to the decision that this design would work best in a virtual reality environment as we wanted a design that would be nice to look at and not overly complicated or a strain on the eyes. For this design I took inspiration from these two apps.

The Guided Meditation app served as a good example for keeping things clean and simple as well as easy to use in regards to text and colours, while Altspace inspired me with the circular designs. 

We were also discussing how the user should leave the scene after they have finished exploring; we ultimately decided that the user will have a small home object following the user around as they move. It will be placed on the ground right in front of the user so when they look straight down they will be able to see it, however, it wont be very visible to them as they are walking around. We decided to do it like this so that the object wouldn’t get in the way of the experience as we want the user to be fully immersed and feel like they are really outside. Below is the home object I created in Fusion 360 that we will be using. James is going to make is glow once placed in Unity in order to make it stand out more.

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Prototypes

Below are the app prototypes I created in Adobe XD. The different colours are placeholders representing different scenes that will be featured in the app and the videos display how each prototype app is supposed to work.

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Prototype 3

As seen in the videos, there is a ‘home’ button when you want to exit a scene. This was only done for prototyping purposes; for the final app we are going to have a condition the user must do to exit the scene, e.g. hold the google cardboard button to exit scene. The purpose of this is to ensure the user is fully immersed in the app and not being distracted by buttons on the screen when engaged in a scene. This will be indicated to the user somehow before entering the scene so they are aware of the controls.

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Sprites

Here is the final logo design and various sprites I created for the app prototypes.

Final Logo

Sprites

I decided to go with curved, lowercase letters and shades of blue because I wanted the app to have kind of a soft look and be child friendly. I also went for obvious words and symbols so there wouldn’t be any confusion when trying to navigate through the app. 

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App Logo and Sketches

I started on some designs for the app and logo and after discussing with James about names for the app, we decided to go with wander. We thought wander was fit for our app as it is all about exploring the outdoors and wandering at your own pace.

Logo Sketches

UI Design - Prototype 1

UI Design - Prototype 2

Both of these prototypes have a clean white background for the starting scene as we want to keep it clean and simple for users. Considering that our audience is people in quarantine who are of all ages, we want to make sure it is easy enough for people who aren’t very tech-savvy to use. My next step is to create sprites in Illustrator and remake these prototypes in Adobe XD so I can have a better idea of how the app is going to work.

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App Research

I spent this week looking into different types of VR apps to understand different UI designs. UI design is something I haven’t really done much of, so I thought it was important to look at some examples before starting on my own designs. Below are a few of the examples I came across.

The Guided Meditation app stood out to me the most as it is intended to help with relaxation and displayed outdoor sceneries, which are aspects that we are also aiming for when designing our app. We are also aiming to keep it fairly simple as we want the user to be able to access the scenes as easily as possible so they can get straight to the experience without spending too much time trying to figure out out to use the app.

References

IRUSU Channel. (2020, Jun 9). How to Use Google Cardboard VR App with IRUSU VR Headset [Video File]. Retrieved Sept 26th, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO1cRJiJIV0

Yaroslav Petryk. (2020, April 22). VR Mission Mars Expedition (Google Cardboard) Android [Video File]. Retrieved Sept 26th, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iT1ooF7vMY

Road to VR. (2014, Oct 18). Guided Meditation - Relaxing VR Experience for Oculus Rift [Video File]. Retrieved Sept 26th, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgloGxiTtZA

Marcus VR. (2019, June 22). Altspace VR [Video File]. Retrieved Sept 26th, 2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GdC-btJ5OU

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Sem 2 Pt. 2

As we near the end of the project and semester, things haven’t exactly gone to plan due to covid, so James and I have thought of a contingency plan. Originally our project was material based as much as it was technology based, however, we are unable to access the materials and tools we require to build an isopod, therefore we have instead decided to create a VR app with the use of a google cardboard which we happen to have on hand. Through this, we are able to maintain our purpose of creating a product that provides individuals in MIQ (Managed Isolation and Quarantine) an escape/connection to the outside world.

The original idea was to create a physical pod that the user could place themselves into as they put on a pair of VR goggles and fade into an outdoor scenery. There were also going to be fans connected to the pod that simulate winds and scents to give the user the sensation of being outside. After covid became apparent, we made some readjustments and decided to create an app fit for google cardboard. The app will have a selection of outdoor sceneries that the user will be able to choose from. It will also contain audio for each scenery that mimics the outdoors such as birds, cicadas, etc. in order to fully immerse the user.

As for the contribution, James will be working in Unity to create the outdoor sceneries while I will be working in Adobe XD to create possible app designs and sprites. We will be bouncing ideas off of each other and discussing final design choices. Communication will not be an issue as we live together.

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List of Relevant Blog Posts

Group Name IsoPod

Group Members James Robinson-Togia Bhumika Patel

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/657286367140872192/year-3-sem-2

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/657918454426484736/workflow-and-management

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/658537375643893760/update-research

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/659189788742746112/crits

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/659190750035263488/prototyping

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/660365091909337088/more-prototyping

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More Prototyping

My original plan was to 3D print a prototype of the IsoPod, however, now that we’re in lockdown I don’t have access to the machines so I created a lo-fi prototype out of materials I had laying around at home.

This is roughly made out of cardboard and fabric to give a representation of what kind of materials the final IsoPod will be made out of. The framing and side tables (where the fans will sit) will most likely be made from wood and the walls, which wrap around the frame, will be made out of a soft fabric for comfortability. It will obviously be a lot wider so it it a comfy fit for the user. I’m not quite sure about what we will be using to create the area that the user lays down in as we are yet to experiment with that.

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Prototyping

In the early stages of the project, I was set on the idea of having a pod like space (kind of like a shower) with a chair that the user could sit in while going through the experience, however, as we have come further into the project, I thought that having a more horizontal, bed-like space would be more fitting for what we are aiming to do. I have drawn up a few sketches and am in the process of creating a 3D printed prototype to show what we are aiming for. below are the sketches.

These are very rough idea of what we are aiming for. James and I are both leaning to the one that allows the user to lay down as it is more comfortable and may also be more suitable for the 360 degree videos. Looking into the more permanent version, it would have small table-like slabs on the side where the weather simulating equipment would sit. The 3D model below displays a better version of this design.

We are still figuring out which materials will be needed to create this, however, with both of mine and James’ skillset we are sure that we are capable of doing it. The next step before coding will be figuring out which measurements to do as we want to make sure everyone will be capable of using it.

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Crits

After crits this week, we received a bit of feedback that we found to be helpful going forward (shown below).

- Create something that will be able to communicate the core values of that product

- Make sure the product doesn’t make the user feel isolated e.g. enclosed walls, as that is the opposite to what we are going for

- Find where (environment) users would want to be e.g. park, mall, train, etc.

Moving forward, we’re going to make sure to keep all of these things in mind to ensure our product is suitable for the target audience. Our main thing as of now is to make sure that the design of the product is comfortable and has no sense of isolation whatsoever. 

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Update - Research

I’ve spent this week researching into MIQ facilities and reading about experiences from people who have experienced MIQ. I think that its important to read these experiences as we need to have a clear idea of where the issues lay and how we could improve them. Some of the main issues I have come across is the lack of walking space and the scheduling of when certain groups of people are able to go out to walk. From what I have read, it also appears as though the MIQ hotels have different ways of functioning as the experiences I have read about vary between being positive and negative. This made me think that maybe we could aim our product towards certain hotels the require it more than others, however, this would require more research into which hotels tend to cause more struggle for people.

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Workflow and Management

This week was focused around narrowing down the specifics around our idea as well as creating a workflow and plan that we can follow to ensure we stay on track with the work that needs to be completed each week. In order to do this, James and I created a Trello board and started noting down goals that had to be achieved each week and what work had already been completed. We also created two shared google docs with one holding our brief and ideas going forward and the other containing all of our research.

Our aim going into the following week is to have gathered up a lot of research and started lo-fi prototyping based off of our findings. I think having something physical to look at will give us a better idea of what we aim to create and whether or not we are reaching too far in terms of our skill level.

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Year 3 Sem 2

For the last semester, James and I have decided to work together on creating a product for people in MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine). We want to create something that allows this specific audience to connect to the outside world/bring the outside world to them while in isolation. Our current ideas involve using VR and creating a space with sensations (scents, sounds, etc.) that replicate feelings you would experience in the outside world.

Our plans going into this project include talking to people who have experienced MIQ and get a better understanding of what their experience was like and what could have improved it. From that information, we plan on creating prototypes of what this ‘indoor outdoor space’ might look like and what mechanics it is going to involve.

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List of Relevant Blog Posts

Group Name Capsule

Group Members Bhumika Patel James Robinson - Togia Rakavi Jeyakumar Robert Tauniva

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/649067916557451264/clo3d

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/649611892230373376/more-clo3d

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/649762354132910080/checklist

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/652239560933310464/experimentation

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/652242178273427456/rendering

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/652249564243460096/design-choices

https://bhumikabct.tumblr.com/post/652251005682089984/logo-concepts

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Logo Concepts

James and I were working on some logo concepts for Capsule to put onto the app. Here is what we came up with.

We both were a fan of the bottom center logo so we started playing around with that design and eventually came up with this.

We thought this was fitting because the ‘C’ represents C for Capsule and it can also be seen as an enclosed closet with the t - shirt sitting in the middle of it, which is exactly what we’re trying to portray with Capsule. We have decided to keep it black and white for now as we are yet to decide on a colour scheme. We also worked on creating buttons for the app which can be seen below.

Going from left to right they represent trans/non-binary, plus size women and prosthetics. The buttons will also have labels in the app to ensure it is clear to the users. Again, we have decided to leave it them black and white for now until a colour scheme is decided on.