Week 3

Reflections

This week I presented my role-playing immersive room prototype to my peers, got feedback, and gave feedback to those I presented to. 

I got a lot of really useful feedback from my peers. I initially made a UX prototype in addition to my room prototype, which shows how you can be assigned roles on your phone. I decided to mix this aspect after the critique because my peers made me realize people don’t like to take out their phones.

I also got feedback about how the game should be structured when people work together. I realized I have to consider the wader, which is a type of guest who just wants a more surface-level experience. They just wanna walk in and look at pretty pictures. I got some feedback on how to do this as well, which is having difficulty levels that achieve the same outcome, so how intense the experience is, is up to the guest.  

It made me realize that there are a lot of intricate decisions that go into making something like this, and perhaps it would be too much for me to do with the current timeframe. 

As of right now, I’m leaning into more of a vague storyline to show off my project's versatility to be reskinned across multiple themes, rather than one intricate storyline focused on one theme. 

Logistics of the surroundings are also something that I want to consider since I made this prototype without thinking about feasibility I need to start trying to plan out how this will actually be built whether it’s gonna be a physical place or it’s gonna be more virtual. 

Pip advised me to test out the AR elements sooner rather than later and I’ve only just begun scratching the surface of unreal engine in my other classes. so I either would have to learn much more on my own, or come up with a backup plan to make the anonymity more physical. 

Unique Contributions

What I aim to bring to the sphere is immersive experiences defined by communal interaction. The immersion would be built by conversation with citizens from multiple walks of life within the themed world. 

This form of entertainment will also give my guests a sense of accomplishment that directly ties to the theme of the world it's set in and its central message. For example, if this were in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the guests could feel like they have helped improve the living conditions of a species. It’s through conversation and collaboration that the guests can feel like they have implemented a positive change in the world they entered. 

Prep for Upcoming Weeks

Some questions I still have:

• What would be the most feasible way to construct this project?

• How do I straddle the balance between versatility and immersion when immersion is heavily dependent on the theme?

• For a project like this, what deliverables would make the most sense?

• What medium would be best to convey this project in?

My next steps:

• Explore Unreal Engine and test out any AR or VR elements. 

• Brainstorm backup plans in case Unreal Engine doesn’t work out.

• Begin drafting storylines to show off the project's versatility.

• Brainstorm potential methods of construction for the entire project.