Unleash Your Inner Magician: The VR+ Necromancer
Intro
Imagine yourself as Jade, a young magician sent by the Order to investigate sightings of the undead in a dark, eerie forest. What starts as a simple inquiry quickly turns into a battle for survival. Armed with powerful magic, you must defend yourself against lurking undead enemies. The deeper you venture into the forest, the more dangerous it becomes. However, you know you must defeat the root of evil to save the forest and its inhabitants.
This case study deals with the interaction and the user interface in virtual reality. The goal was to make the user interface as natural and intuitive as possible, which would result in a better immersion.
Merging Hand-Tracking and Movement for Seamless VR Integration
Design Approach
The primary focus of VR+ Nacromancer was to provide users with a natural and intuitive interaction in the virtual environment. We pursued various approaches, including hand tracking, which allowed users to see and move their hands within the virtual world as they would in reality. This enabled users to perform spells with their hands or grab and manipulate objects.
Revolutionizing Virtual Reality Interaction
Shape-Detection
Draw different shapes with your hands. Triangle, rectangle and circle each represent a spell.
Spell-Casting
Draw one of the basic shapes to create a rune in front of you. To trigger it you just have to touch it.
Shake-Movement
Locomotion without motion sickness. Simply run on the spot and the movement is transferred to the character.
A Journey into VR+ Nacromancer's
Solution
To address locomotion within the virtual world, we moved away from conventional methods like teleportation or using joysticks and gamepads. Instead, VR+ Nacromancer implemented a more natural method – locomotion through on-the-spot movements. Users move by walking, jogging, or running in place, creating a more realistic experience. This method, known as “natural walking,” is increasingly being adopted in VR applications.
In conclusion, VR+ Nacromancer successfully created an immersive and engaging virtual reality experience by leveraging intuitive interaction and natural user interfaces. Through innovative design and technology, users can truly step into the role of Jade, the young magician, and face the challenges that lie ahead in this epic story.
Year
2015
Client
Hochschule der Medien, Stuttgart
Services
Level-Design, Art-Direction, Programmierung, UXD, UID, 3D-Modeling and Rigging
Tech
Unity3D, Leap Motion, Oculus Rift, zBrush, C#, Math, Virtual Reality
