Canvas of Sound is a VR environment that simulates a rare neurological phenomenon called synesthesia which grants the user an ability to see sound in the form of colors, spatially oriented in front of them.
Programs used: Unity, Audacity, Adobe Illustrator
My role in this project was the project leader and main programmer.
As the project leader, I organized and directed the flow of work based on the strengths of the team members to meet milestone deadlines, as well as promoted discussion and made the finalization of each milestone hand-in.
As the main programmer, I worked on the simulation's scene sequence, object interactivity, and aided in the environment design. All three of those points have user experience in mind.
This project was created using Unity, by myself and two other classmates, with the theme of "going beyond" to evoke a sense of wonder, empathy and provide an interesting experience that someone may normally be unable to experience.
Starting with the previously mentioned theme, our group did an affinity diagramming exercise that resulted in three categories: simulation, psychological, and sightseeing. Synesthesia came as an after-thought while suggesting topics that would fall under all three categories.
What design decisions can I make to reduce the possibility of motion sickness? One of the reasons why motion sickness occur, is when the brain thinks that the body is moving when physically the person is not moving. Taking that into consideration, I designed the selection of object to be based on where the user is looking. If their gaze lingers on an interactive object for a longer amount of time, the object will be selected. Moving in the simulation was through a controller, so the environmental design had to be small to limit the controller movement in-game to decrease the possibility for the user to get motion sick.
Poster Design for SFU's virtual reality showcase
Initial storyingboarding
