Project 3:

Introduction

This project is a VR application that simulates a classroom setting (specifically, the EVL classroom at the University of Illinois at Chicago). The project consists of my "dream" classroom space, so I made it into a socially distanced dance floor/lackluster party because I cannot throw a party for the life of me.

4. In case the scene doesn't load, go to the folder "virtualuic-evl," then the folder "Scenes," then open the EVL Scene file to open the scene

Controls

• W, A, S, D: Movement

• Alt: Switch to Move-Hands mode

• Shift (in Move-Hands mode): Rotate current hand

• Tab: Switch current hand

Pictures with Descriptions

Assets

Unity Asset Store:

• Free Smartphone - Vertex Studio - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/electronics/free-smartphone-90324

• Acoustic Guitar - Not_Lonely - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/acoustic-guitar-21037

• FREE Casual Food Pack - Lumo-Art 3D - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/food/free-casual-food-pack-mobile-vr-85884

• Ultimate Hat: Party - DANKIE - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/clothing/ultimate-hat-party-133222

• School Supplies - YGS Assets - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/school-supplies-96667

• PBR Stage Equipment - Tirgames Assets - https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/props/electronics/pbr-stage-equipment-84617

Extra Assets:

• Dog and Man Dancing: https://media.giphy.com/media/F5DgwU1yJAGM8/giphy.mp4

Discussion

In a socially-distanced world consumed by a pandemic and quarantines, it is likely that many people have not had opportunities to visit friends and family members. Thankfully, the future is here with virtual reality interaction! All jokes aside, the possibilities of interacting with people in virtual reality are increasing and it will be eventual that a good portion of the population would be interacting virtually. Of course, we have many means of talking to other people virtually. We have different social media sites and applications like Skype, Discord, and Zoom to help us talk to others via the internet. Despite that, those platforms do not have that factor of physical interactivity like meeting in person does. Virtual reality can be a mild solution to this physicality problem of online interaction.

A virtual reality space could simulate that feeling of being in the room with other people, which is an important factor for social interaction. I would say that a lot of struggles moving onto an online format for school and work stems from this lack of the proper environment. Personally, I have found it difficult to work or do assignments at home as I am not in an environment that encourages those activities. Being in the classroom would help me learn better and being in a place to work would help me work. I believe it is the same for other people. I am not saying that virtual reality would be a good place to learn or work, but it would bring back that physicality of interaction in real life that is lacking in online communications.

There are already VR applications that allow for interactions with different people. For example, there is the game VRChat. VRChat is a free massive multiplayer online game and social platform where the users could interact with one another in VR. How it works is that players can interact with others using 3D character models. The 3D models are quite extensive in features, including audio lip syncing, eye tracking, and full body motion. There are also minigames that players can play together such as capture the flag, cops and robbers, and disc battles. It does its best to simulate a chat room in real life. I have seen videos of people using VRChat and one example of interaction in the game was a pastor that gave virtual baptisms to those who were rejected from their churches for whatever reason. Some other VR applications for social interaction include Sansar and AltspaceVR.

Overall, the idea of a virtual reality space to communicate is an expensive yet innovative one. It would require that the general public has access to virtual reality headsets and they are all somewhat pricey. The applications mentioned do not require that players have headsets, but it would just be Skype in a game format. Having that virtual reality environment with full motion control and interaction makes this a unique yet familiar way of communication. Being able to simulate that feeling of “being in the room” is an important part of communication and virtual reality could help with that.