Virtual Reality + 3D Modeling + Immersive Storytelling + Advanced Graphics and Interaction
Submergency: Submerge in the ocean to explore our underwater emergency
A VR experience that takes us on a journey through our oceans- from what it was like generations ago, to what it is like now. It is an effort to bring the plight of the oceans closer to us
DURATION:
2023
SKILLS:
VR programming, 3D modeling, Unity, Blender, Occulus Quest2
User Evaluation, Github, Discord
TEAM:
Linnéa Gustafsson, Sofia Bergqvist, Saga Palmér, Shiqi Gong, Jacky Liu
Submergency is a virtual reality experience that takes us on a journey through our oceans - from what it was like generations ago to what it is like now. It is an effort to bring the plight of the oceans closer to us.
After a brief tutorial to familiarize themselves with the controls, our viewer finds themselves in the wide blue ocean. In front of them is a timeline. As they swim along the timeline into the future, they can see how the ocean changes along with the decades, with plants gradually looking sicker, fewer fish, and drastically but steadily increasing plastic waste. The viewer can also swim to the surface of the ocean.
Now, the viewer is no longer sitting in the comfort of their home reading about plastic in the ocean and suffering animal life; they can experience it themselves almost first-hand.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO INTERACT WITH THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT:
1. Quest 2 + Hand Tracking
The participant puts on the Quest 2 headset and stands within a demarcated space on the ground. They must move their hands in the natural swimming motion while keeping their fingers together as one would while swimming. The direction of the swimming motion determines the direction in which the participant will be propelled.
2. Quest 2 + Hand-held Controllers
The participant puts on the Quest 2 headset and stands within a demarcated space on the ground. They use two hand-help Quest 2 controllers in order to move. The controllers are moved in a natural swimming motion. The participant must hold down a button at the start of a movement and release the button at its end. There is another button for grasping objects. The direction of the swimming motion determines the direction in which the participant will be propelled.
TECHNOLOGY USED:
-
Oculus Quest 2 headset and controllers was used as the main interface, because it does not need to be connected with a cord, which gives users more freedom. We also had the possibility to borrow two Quest headsets, which helped the development process.
-
TV screens were used for spectating
-
Unity is a real-time development engine made for facilitating collaboration and building games and other interactive experiences. It was used to build the environment, because we had previous experience with Unity within the team.
-
Blender is a free and open source software commonly used for 3D modeling and animation. We used Blender to create our own 3D models which we could import into Unity, and we opted to use this tool because we had experience with this within the team too.
-
Github was used for collaborative working, planning and task tracking
-
Discord was used for communication
-
Google Drive, Docs, Slides etc. were used for note-taking, making presentations, preparing submissions and record keeping
To know more; visit the Submergency Site