Personal Project
VR User Experience Design/ Unity VR / Game Design
Unity XR Interaction Toolkit API / Figma / Adobe Illustrator
3 weeks
"Loading" is the project that transforms the "Death Stranding" loading package system into Virtual Reality. To explore the VR user experience and Hedonomic design, the author explores the avatar's hands functionality, the hierarchy of the interface, and object affordance in the virtual world.
Team
Element
Tools
Duration
About
01
Game Demo
02
User Experience Flow
The original PC game loading process is very linear, players need to confirm the loading of mission packages and equipment in turn, and adjust through a list in the UI interface. The whole experience relies on mouse clicks and interface jumps, which is one of the challenges of transforming this process to the VR world.
Original experience video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7bQ2qQbPSM&list=PLqzpfVxE0c4LiarPV_rrn4wrPMyTfc_i1&index=1&t=8s
The user experience system of PC games relies on interface jumping, which is not feasible in a VR world and is a counter-intuitive way to interact. VR games should rely on scenes and embed interfaces or information into the scenes. This is also reflected in many 3D games, such as setting up bulletin boards in the scene and using this readable scenario-based interface to convey information.
Therefore, I simplified the original linear process to an open scene in which players freely pick up packages and load them, and continued the visual feedback of the original game in which players assembled goods on the avatar.
02
Hedonomic Design
"Hedonomic" is a branch of ergonomic science that facilitates pleasurable human-technology interaction, and we could borrow this concept into VR user experience design. Through the Hedonomic Pyramid, we’re able to section our thinking off into regions (Safety, Function, Usability, Pleasure and Individuation).
For this project, I mainly explore the hands functionality and objects affordance for usability, the hierarchy of the interface for pleasure.
Hands Functionality
I explore the functionality of hands in VR to enhance information carrying capacity and usability. Watches are utilized in many VR works as a scenario-based, immersive prop which could call out a dynamic interface.
In this project, I set the left hand as the watch information hand to control the direction of the avatar, just like the original gamers could use the mouse to change the orientation. While the right hand controls all movement and grasping behavior, so that when the left hand interface is open, the player can hold the right hand to load packages onto the avatar.
Left Hand
The hierarchy of the interface in VR
Right Hand
I classify the interfaces in the VR world in a right-angle coordinate system. x is parameterized by the flexibility of the interface in the world, and the y coordinates are from small to large for 2D interfaces to 3D model mosaics.
I classify the interfaces in the VR world in a right-angle coordinate system. x is parameterized by the flexibility of the interface in the world, and the y coordinates are from small to large for 2D interfaces to 3D model mosaics.
The interface in the lower left corner of the coordinate system is more functional and has a strong information output; the interface in the upper right corner brings a stronger sense of immersion and integrates better with the VR world. Based on the above properties, I have sorted the interfaces within the user experience flow.
Mission Board:
Disappare when all mission packages are grabbed
Package Info Panel:
Embed in packages models
Locker Interface:
Appare when players getting close
Watch Interface:
Using controller to call out
Package Statement
Information display of packages is one of the core functions of the system to help players form a strategy for loading packages . Therefore, the information display in different states should also be different.
On the mission board
Selected by hands
Selected by socket
On the Ground
Package Statement
Equipment Statement
03
Future Dev
After I presented this project to my Hedonomic classmates and lecturer Michelle and got feedback from them, I think the project has the following developments：
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Add the purchase system to the scene
We could see from the original game video, the purchase system is separate from the loading system. However, the original interface is similar in the game and players always purchase equipment when they take the mission and load packages.
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Add tutorial, maybe develop into a full game
When I presented the project, a classmate mentioned that the watch interface interaction method needs some tutorials for players to learn. My lecturer suggested I could develop the system into an independent game, which could involve the question that how to teach players to learn the controllers.
I developed “Dream Delivery (Click to see the project)” based on this idea and this project.