KIT724 Assignment 3 VR Report

2 years ago by alan yin

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Introduction

This is a software called Alan's Therapy Room, which uses VR technology to allow users to have a safe and controlled treatment for their fear of heights. The usual way of treating people who are afraid of heights is to expose them to heights, but there are risks and costs associated with this. The main purpose of this software is to help those who are afraid of heights to experience it at home or in any room with a VR device.

Description of application

Alan's Therapy Room allows users to experience a rollercoaster ride in an amusement park setting as a way to help them overcome their fear of heights. Upon entering the software, the user can actually see the surroundings in the context of an amusement park, including a rollercoaster and a merry-go-round. There are also two levels of difficulty to choose from, one being the difficult level, where the user will experience higher heights and a certain amount of spinning. The other is the easy level, where the rollercoaster is experienced at a height of about 3-5 meters above the ground and simply goes around. During the experience, the user can pause the experience at any time with the X button on the left-hand grip or exit the experience with the A button on the right-hand grip.

The uniqueness of my software can be seen in its design. It is less burdensome and safer than having to wear protective equipment in a real environment, such as standing on a platform with a certain height. From the user's point of view, it is also more acceptable, and who would say no to an amusement park.

In simple terms VR is a virtual environment provided by a computer's 3d simulation technology. In contrast to a realistic environment, virtual reality provides high quality visualization and gives the user a sense of being in a different world when experiencing it. Another benefit is that it can simulate potentially dangerous real-world operations such as surgery, combat and flying. People can easily learn to perform operations, fly aircraft, etc. without risking their own and/or others' lives. So, it is a wise choice to allow patients with a high level of fear to have the experience in a virtual amusement park scenario. Reason one, an amusement park would be much easier to experience fear than actually having the user stand on a high level. Reason two, with the support of VR technology, the user can simply put on the equipment and experience it, whereas in reality standing on a high platform would require a lot of additional safety equipment and learning safety manuals to keep themselves safe. With VR technology, there is no need to worry about your safety and there is no risk at all when getting treatment

Interaction Design

In my design, there are four interactions involved.

- The main screen showed that two buttons which are easy and difficult, all suers to choose different level of roller coaster

- The other two are all designed based on the grips. One is left-hand side on “X” button to allow users to pause the experience. The other one is right-hand side on “A “button to allow users to quit the experience.

Tenicial Development

VR can be understood as the use of computer technology to allow users to experience virtual worlds. The headset gives the user a visual experience, while the grip gives the user a tactile experience. Based on this theme of treating fear, it can actually be said that VR also brings new opportunities to many industries. Virtual reality in the medical field can help to properly treat phobias or anxiety disorders. It can help to overcome real-life scenarios that cause fear. For example, walking or simple maneuvers in a VR high altitude environment under the guidance of a doctor as a way to treat fear of heights, etc.

Description of 3d Models

Based on the model material I purchased from unity, I built a very complete amusement park scene, including trees, a car park, and various large entertainment facilities. The aim was to give the users a particularly realistic experience and thus better help them get the treatment they were looking for.