TL;DR

A selected group of 10 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students in a makerspace studio are contracted by Birch Aquarium to create a Virtual Reality Experience in 10 weeks.

It was an enjoyable and productive from start to finish, from ideating to delivering a final product. This is my favorite project because I truly felt like a crucial member of the team.

Brainstorming

Given our client's (Birch Aquarium) limited understanding of what they wanted, we spent the majority of our time researching and brainstorming solutions. The prompt was vague, but we noted a few constrictions. 

1. VR headset is cheap and customizable. Something too powerful is not sustainable for long runtimes.

2. Wearable contact points must be designed with sanitation in mind.

3. Exhibit is mobile.

4. Software to be booted up with a single button start-up.

5. Experience must be accessible with no supervision from employees.

I originally had thought of a virtual submarine playground area that has monitor screens for windows, a projection mapped frontal bubble window, and a periscope with a VR headset. 

Solutions

1. We had three very productive design review meetings with our clients to narrow down on what we want our final product to be.

2. We researched all the headsets in the market and even acquired some to check its modifiability and programmability. We ultimately chose 2 Acer Headsets with a gaming laptop to power it.

3. We modified the contact points of the headset with interchangeable and cleanable materials such as silicone or neoprene.

Skills Learned

1. Maintaining client and engineer relationship,

2. Presenting and prototyping exceptional design ideas

3. Blender 3D modeling

4. Silicone molding.

Team Dynamic

Perhaps because I had nothing else to focus on besides this project during this summer, but I was the happiest and the most efficient working in this project. I had my specific role in 3D modeling, and I felt needed because I had the most experience in 3D printing, laser cutting, and CADing. All the members got along, and our mentor, Jon, was also a lot of fun. It was a fun group of people with a lot of individual character, and a fun project came out of it.