Inspiration and objective
The objective of this project Was to create a visual experience inspired by a variety of different mediums, such as the works of David Lynch, and experimental musicians. I wanted to pull the player in the correct direction Without forcing them.
I was inspired heavily by Twin Peaks Which uses a lot of visual storytelling And can often have a sombre mood. Musicians such as Brian Eno have released albums which can also create A dark experience just through sound.
it was important for me to take forward my previous years research to find the differences in design when introducing disruptive technologies such as virtual reality.
The Experience
The experience Begins in a regular living space and does not give the player an objective. After a short amount of time two books began to float around the living area for a short amount of time, book slams the table and hits the floor and the black book knocks open the door revealing a second area. this area is more distorted with angled wallpaper and doors. the black book flies into an impossibly small hallway which the player cannot reach.
the hallway is otherwise uninteresting with the only stand out feature being a red door at the end of the hallway. the red door slowly begins to move away from the player and eventually picks up speed before smashing into a black void surrounded by a variety of doors floating in space, and broken pieces of wool floating in stasis. at this point the player has two options.
if the player begins to enter this area the colour begins to drain. the player but then be expected to go towards the red door, which activates a level sequence where the player is pulled towards the door and colour quickly comes back before the screen turns black.
as the player begins to walk into the area with all of the doors, they have the option to turn back into the hallway and return to the world full of colour. the nondescript door at the other end of the hallway has opened up another area which leads to a grassy area with heavenly visuals, with easily accessible doors lining the horizon.
Virtual reality experiment
The Project continued to look into my experiments of the previous year, and was made in tandem with my Dissertation which looks to understand the Design Process and how it is affected with the addition of disruptive technologies.
There were various design choices tested with players, comparing those that played in VR and out of VR. The roof within the main living area slowly raises over time, and it was my intention to make it subtle, with the player being unable to notice the change. This subtle change over time proved to be less noticeable in VR, especially with the original Oculus Development kit used at the time.
