Mobile Virtual Reality
An outdoor escape for the elderly
Older generations, especially elderly who are living in an assisted care living or living alone, often miss the opportunity to experience the outdoors. However, virtual reality (VR) make this possible for them to escape the confinement of their room and bring them back to being in the present
Role
User Interface Designer
Year
2017
Duration
3 months
Deliverables
User research
Storyboard
Digital assets
3 progressive prototypes
Usability testing
Final VR application
Team
User researcher, UX designer and UI developer
Software and tools
Photoshop, Illustrator, Unity, C#, Final Cut Pro, Theta-S, Google SDK, Android Studio, and Unity.
The Sweet Escape
This is my story of designing a virtual reality experience for placed-bound elderly to help them foster mindfulness, and mind-body connection to find a peaceful sense of being.
Intuitive Interface for Elderly Users
Our VR UI design, offers immersive experiences in indoor, outdoor, and peaceful environments. With user-friendly controls and simplified interactions, seniors can explore serene landscapes, observe breathtaking sunsets, and embark on guided tours through virtual rainforests, providing engaging and enjoyable experiences.
Improving User Interface Readability
To enhance the accessibility of the interface, we increased the color contrast on UI elements to ensure better visibility and ease of use. Additionally, we incorporated an option to enlarge the font size. This feature allows users to adjust the text to a larger size, enhancing readability for individuals with visual impairments or prefers larger text.
Enhanced Mindfulness Practice
We've introduced a scene progress bar that promotes presence and relaxation at the outset. It prompts users to take a deep breath as the screen loads, fostering a mindful state of mind for an immersive experience from the start.
My Role
As part of a small team in the Interactive Media and design capstone project, I was responsible for the user research, user interface design for iOS and Android devices, visual communication, project management and front‑end development.
The Approach
We approached all design aspects using participatory activity design and prototyped rapidly using an agile iterative development cycle. We conducted interviews with 7 key stakeholders, product validation with 3 field experts, user testing with 27 users, and heuristic evaluations.
Product Timeline
To help meet the project goals and deadlines, I designed a product timeline in Photoshop to help guide our development process.
Design Empathy
To create empathy with the users, I build a user persona story, affinity diagram and prioritize the product feature backlog based on user goals and user needs.
User Research
To help us understand our users, I conducted ethnographic research with 5 medical professionals and 8 caregivers.
Agile Development
To help us refine the product feature backlog, I conducted design charrette with stakeholders and implemented each feature weekly in Unity using Final Cut Pro and C#.
User-centered Design
We composed a list of product features based on the user stories we gathered from the initial interview with our stakeholders. I validated the user stories with the stakeholders and led the implementation of the features. (The VR headset cut-away is for illustrative purposes.)
The Framework
I sketched user interface, and multi-scene storyboard rapidly on paper and Balsamic. I build a proof-of-concept video using Final Cut Pro to create high resolution videos and prototyped progressively using Unity Collaborate.
Making of a scene
For the first MVP prototype, I created a natural and familiar environment for our users using the 360 Fly camera.
A Scene Per Day
From the interviews, the user told us they would like to have 7 scenes to visit. I was in charge of developing the walk in the wood, Rainforest trail, Henry Art Museum and Seattle Art Museum scene in Unity.
Testing the Theta S 360 camera which was the most suited for 360 videos
Exploring different types of 360 video cameras
Users wanted to see higher resolution videos
In the first user testing session, the users wanted to see a higher quality video so we explored other 360 cameras and found Theta S 360 camera provided the highest resolution at the time. We recorded new scenes with the new camera and export it to Final Cut Pro for further refinement before importing to Unity.
Designing Interactive Scene
I edited videos in Final Cut Pro, import it to Unity and build the video sphere, user control panel, scene gallery menu, music player and user interface using JavaScript.
Designing for accessibility
In user testing, users with physical limitations or temporary disability has a hard time using the joystick VR remote controller. We created the interface with large text and provided a user guide to the caregivers so that they could set up the VR experience for the user.
The Refinement
In the second usability testing, the users told us wanted to hear the different background music, a larger user control panel, and view scene descriptions.
Refinement
Through user testing, we learned from the users that they want to be able to move to around the scene with higher video quality, less complex user control panel, and view diverse outdoor scenes with and without people.
Second Prototype
Through user insights, we incorporated higher video quality, increased scene mobility, a simplified user control panel, and added 3 diverse outdoor scenes, users can enjoy a more immersive and enjoyable VR experience that caters to their preferences and desires.
Final Prototype
Based on user feedback, we added three new scenes with multiple hotspots, implemented a scene description feature with font size control, introduced a guided meditation loading screen, and included a background music playlist. These updates offer a wider range of interactive environments, improved readability of scene descriptions, a seamless transition into meditation sessions, and a choice of background music.
Impact
Developed 8 iterative prototypes and 3 progressive prototypes for Android and iOS devices in 3 months. The app was ranked 1st in the 2017 Interactive Media Design competition.