Environment Selection

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Hi everyone,

This week, UAT was on spring break, so I didn't have a chance to go on campus. It was the last week to prepare for my experiment, so today I'll walk you through how I selected which virtual reality program to use with the HTC Vive.

During the experiment, participants will be placed in one of three environments:

1. Control: Regular waiting
2. Exp 1: Virtual Reality 
3. Exp 2: Interactive Virtual Reality

An extremely detailed and advanced sketch I made of the three scenarios

I designed the experiment to compare the effectiveness of  regular virtual reality immersion with an interactive, game-style virtual reality immersion. I wanted to study whether VR could be a viable tool for stress reduction, and if so, which method was more effective for escapism. Research has also shown that gaming can be a form of meditation that lowers stress over time, so I was intrigued to test it out. 

To find the most relaxing VR environment, I did some research on how your environment affects your mood. I studied some lectures created by Professor Sharon Bolman in her theater design class, and found that the most impactful components of the environment were lighting and lines. People instinctively relax when it's light, and total darkness is disconcerting. Cool colors convey tranquility and serenity. Soft curves and lines are perceived as delicate and solemn, while sharp and diagonal lines are perceived as dynamic. 

Which side would you like to be in?

With these guidelines in mind, I decided on a program called "Perfect" -- how perfect! Perfect allows the user to choose from a selection of nature scenes and has several interactive components if you enable the controllers. The environment I will be using is the daytime beach scene, complete with coconut trees and fish in the water. Having controllers will enable users to pick up rocks to knock down coconuts, interact with fish, etc.

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Here's a video demonstration of the program. Watch from 1:42 to see the beach environment.

I'm excited to start my experiment and see what kind of results I get! Stay tuned :)