Week 2
Updated: Mar 7, 2024
This week I was tasked with building my first prototype, which was harder for me because I didn’t know exactly what it is I wanted to build, nor how I was gonna make it feasible for my final product. Eventually, I stopped considering the feasibility. I realized I was thinking way too far ahead, and I pivoted to just making what seemed the most natural based on the research and feedback I’d already gotten.
Feedback and Pivoting
Based on the feedback I got on my presentation, I decided to go forward with the first method of data uploading: where two people are given knowledge from the same narrative chapter, and then they work together to accomplish a task. The reason I chose this is because I think it would just be easier to do.
With this in mind, I went back and rethought what elements of my project are the most important to me, and I realized that the one thing that I really wanted to keep across anything that I complete this semester is interaction achieved by facing one another.
Therefore, I decided to pivot from a ride, which could take up a lot of space, to an AR-themed room. This way, these could be built in smaller immersive experience locations that don’t have a lot of room to spare. The main goal of this room is you would walk into an already built themed room, put on your goggles, and then work with another person to accomplish a task. Just like from my pitched presentation in week one each person would be assigned a role, and these roles have different specializations that other roles cannot do, which requires people to work together. the AR element comes in that when you’re looking at the other person, you’re not seeing them, you’re seeing the character that they play. this adds the element of anonymity that’s often present in punchdrunk shows, and according to them, makes the guest more eager to explore.
This element is inspired by the first Jumanji sequel, where the “real life” characters are transformed into their avatars upon being sucked into the game, and the avatars are specialized with hard blocks around that knowledge that isn’t in their skillset. For example, the cartographer character is the only one who can see the map the rest of the character see nothing.
Initial Planning and Concept
I made several sketches based upon other small, immersive chambers I’ve seen, such as arcade games and booths for restaurants themed to specific cuisines. I kept my final design a little bit more generic with two fake windows that offer views into either more themed areas or screens.
When it came to theming, I initially debated several intellectual properties, such as Jumanji or Jurassic Park, but I decided to go for something that wasn’t a pre-existing IP. This way I could show off my main goal of having it be re-skinnable.
The current storyline I have made, for my prototype is that the users are playing scientists, living in an underground bunker. Therefore, those are the images I placed outside of the windows. To give a better sense of immersion, upon walking into the experience, the users would walk into the bunker entrance and down into the rooms of the bunker themselves, so it feels like the world has a sense of space.
Fabrication
This prototype is a miniature version of the room, and I mainly built it out of cardboard. On the table, you’d pick up AR goggles and that’s how you’d work for most of your time in the game. However, I don’t want the game to solely rely on AR, so I think one of if not, the, only computer-generated element would be the person sitting across from you, who would be transformed into the role they were assigned.
The character sheets for this prototype I drafted with the assistance of GPT-4, soundboarding with it to create a cohesive world and to figure out possible blindspots these characters can have.
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