My senior year, we had to create a project and defend it. I chose to make a virtual reality app, which I named InSight.
Problem Statement:
Due to security risks, non-personnel often aren’t allowed into National Laboratories to see the projects and research being done. At universities, professors may be pursuing new and exciting experiments, but they are also busy with grants and research. And companies pursuing scientific research don’t usually give tours.
However, a connection between these facilities and the public is important. So how can we combine good design and current science in a comprehensive and interesting way that is understandable to students, teachers, and nonprofessionals?
Thesis:
A VR program could allow people to “see” unclassified projects without the safety and security risks involved in visiting the facilities, universities, or companies.
This VR program would let people feel involved in the possibilities of current and future science and research. Relevant fields could include nuclear energy research, materials science research, understanding optics and virtual reality, new astronomy finds, and so much more.
Clara is an undergraduate astrophysics student who enjoys stargazing, mountain biking, and getting coffee with friends.
Clara has to write a paper on a current event in astronomy. She chose to write about the Orion Spacecraft.
The VR science app would allow her to not only learn about the Orion and its capabilities, but also let her see where the Orion is and some of the information it’s gathering.
Jeff is an open heart surgeon who teaches at the Cleveland Clinic. He enjoys helping people and a nice bourbon after work.
Jeff has to teach his students how to perform open heart surgery.
VR lets his students perform virtual surgery on a “patient.” This lets his students practice on something more realistic than a cadaver before their first surgery.
College students and professors are my primary stakeholders simply because of cost and need. The growing abilities of VR are becoming important to more fields than just medical.
My secondary stakeholders are librarians and professionals. If VR systems and educational apps could be used at a library, it would offer a greater access to this technology and information.
My last stakeholders are those that read the science section in the New York Times, read scientific magazines, or read grant papers online. They may be professionals, retired professionals, stockholders, or just curious bystanders.
These are some quick mock-ups of the main menu. I want it to be like walking into an interactive science museum. The user will start in front of the “Gyrohelix,” which is the main menu. The user will be able to walk around a room and examine objects such as the spaceX spacesuit or a new chemical. Each item will have a small explanation card just like a museum. The Gyrohelix is a combination of a sundial on the bottom, a gyroscope with a compass in the middle, and the videos above. Around the gyroscope are the subject choices, such as physics, biology, nuclear energy, or electric cars. The gyroscope spins just slightly if subject is changed. The chosen subject is in front of the user, and above the compass are the videos related to that subject. As the user scrolls through the videos, the videos that move below the compass become invisible to the viewer.
In the code, all the videos are in a json and each have a subject or subjects that are attributed to them. The videos mathematically spawn around the compass when the user enters the main room. The jsons tell the program how many subjects there are and how many videos are in each subject. This way, to add and delete videos I only have to enter the video into the json, and the code will do the rest of the work for me.
Once a video is chosen, the user will be taken to the lab, classroom, or area of interest. While it is just a video, the viewer can walk around and watch in 3D what the scientist is doing. This gives them a real feel of the what the scientist is working on and how it works. It gets them close and personal to really expensive equipment being used in the labs and allows them to see what the scientists do “in person.” Eventually, an interactive version with some videos would be fantastic, but that would be after the app is published.
Last, but perhaps most importantly, this app would be free. Everybody should have access to the non-classified science being done.
When the game is initialized, the code auto populates the videos from the subsequent json. The user can use the left and right keys to change the main subjects: subject, company, and author. The user uses the up and down key to flip through the secondary subjects such as Sandia National Laboratories, SpaceX, or NASA if they are in the Company tab. The user selects the chosen folder with the a key. The tertiary folder holds the videos, which the user selects with a key and the 3D video begins. For the sake of the prototype, they are just youtube videos. The example below is a VR youtube video on planets.
In the main room, the user will also be able to walk around and view other technology that they may not have heard of yet. The examples I provided are a SpaceX spacesuit, a recent space shuttle that was launched, and particular type of gyroscope. Above the objects is a screen that will have information the user can scroll through and a 2D video that can be played. Eventually, I would like there to be an outdoor space to show certain models in full scale, such as the rockets.