Playful floatation tank
This project is part of my ongoing PhD degree at Monash University. In conducting this project under the supervision of professor Florian "Floyd" Mueller and professor Sarah Jane Pell. This project is funded by the Australian Research Council (Pure ID 311390689).
Floatation tanks as research vehicles
In particular, I'm interested in understanding how to design playful interactions in water settings. To begin contributing to such understanding, I decided to explore playful experiences in a flotation tank. This playful experience was thoughtfully designed to integrate the human body, the interactive technology and the water, different to commercially available experiences that have a technology-first approach.
Soma Desing for a playful floatation tank experience
Fluito: an XR system for playful floatation session
My desing result is called Fluito (Latin word for float). Fluito has a unique combination of technology (a floatation tank, a virtual reality headset, a heart rate sensor, and a pneumatic system) that leverages water affordances to create and amplify different experiences, such as play, relaxation, and bodily illusions.
Fluito Interactive Technology
I used the waterproof “Polar Verity” light-based sensor to be the best wireless HR solution with real-time data transfer for the VR development platform Unity 3D, supported by the physiological plug-in “Excite-O-Meter”. I used air pumps to create bubbles inside the tank for create a tactile stimuli since they can be placed outside the tank, delivering air through hoses attached to the tank’s walls. The custom pneumatic system consists of four 5V air pumps connected to an “ESP8266” microcontroller. The microcontroller wirelessly communicates with the Unity 3D over WiFi using the Uduino plugin.
Experiencing Fluito means joining a journey guided by a virtual water spirit. Through this journey, both the water spirit and the participant will (hopefully) transform themselves while cooperating.
The water spirit will guide the participant through different VR worlds where they must overcome various challenges, such as controlling their breathing and guiding the water spirit in collecting virtual objects.
Fluito VR GAME
Acknowledgments: Thanks to all members of Exertion games lab that collaborated with this project. I also would like to thank Yuyang Ji for his collaboration co-developing the virtual environment and Ryan Wee for his collaboration co-developing the pneumatic system.