Assignment3 VR Report

2 years ago by eddiecUTAS

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Introduction

Have you got a fear of heights and fear of falling? This VR program will help simulate environments such as skyscrapers, a city, nature environment and a skyscraper skywalk! This program will help you get comfortable with tall buildings and simulate ‘dangerous’ situations without the danger!

Description of application

What does the application do?

This VR program is designed to help users with a fear of height (Acrophobia) and fear of falling (Basophobia/Ptophobia) at the convenience of their own home without the need to visit a tall environment. The VR program puts the user in multiple situations such as a skyscraper with a skywalk, city and nature environment. The user is given the option, on a virtual platform, to increase/decrease their current height, walk through a skywalk and the ability to simulate free falling.

What is the significance of this application?

This application is designed to assist patients with exposure therapy for fear of heights (Acrophobia) and fear of falling (Basophobia/Ptophobia). This application is designed to be easily accessible as going to environments in real-life such as a skyscraper can be time consuming, but may not be easily accessible. Using VR exposure therapy (VRET) allows for its user to be in a controlled and immersed environment, where they can comfortably use the VR application inside their home and can take off the headset if the simulations become too overbearing. (Boeldt et al., 2019)

Significance of VR in this application

To simulate exposure therapy, especially for phobias that are related to some sort of physical presence, e.g a tall building, the application needs to be as close to 1:1 to real life. Compared to a traditional 2D virtual environment which uses a mouse and keyboard, and desktop monitor, VR allows the user to be immersed in a 3D environment through a headset which allows users to freely look with their head and be able to gain a greater sense of depth and height.

Interaction design

The main interactions in the application are buttons that the user interacts with the oculus controller.

The user is given the options to press the button and move the platform they are currently on to move, down and to stop the platform from moving. This interaction is important as it allows the user to move the platform to a desired height and be able to see the platform rising as it moves up.

The user is also able to view a dynamically changing text on the platform that displays the current height on the platform.

Users also have the option to toggle the visibility of the platform via buttons and can either turn on or off the platform which allows the user to walk on an invisible platform and be able to view the environment below them.

If the user is not comfortable with the environment they are in, they can walk through the teleport triggers to move to a different environment.

Nature:

Skyscraper:

City

Skywalk

Users also have the ability to walk off the platform/free fall. Once they hit the ground, the user can reset to their original position.

Storyboard

Technical Development

This VR application is designed to and developed for Oculus Quest 1 and 2 using Unity 3D through the Oculus Integration package and is designed and intended to be used with a VR headset and controller. To run the application, the user needs an Oculus headset attached to the computer. Once the headset is attached via USB/-C cable, the user can now run the .apk file.

To interact with the buttons, the user must press either the left or right grip located on the side of the controller and point out their index finger to press the button down.

There are 5 buttons the user can interact with:

Move the platform up
Move the platform down
Stop moving the platform
Make the platform invisible
Make the platform visible again

There are 4 scenes the user can change to

Skyscraper
Skywalk
Nature
City

To change the scene the user must move into the transparent portal using the left hand controller joystick.

3D models

Platform: The user is spawned on the platform. It also serves as a teleport hub to different environments

Buttons: the button rests on a rectangle and is attached to the platform. The buttons allow the user to interact with the platform

Ramps, Stairs, Walkways, Bridges: 3D models of ramps, stairs, walkways, bridges are used to allow the user to move across each of the 3D objects

Virtual Triggers: When the user walks through a virtual trigger, they will be teleported to another scene

Skyscraper: This is a 3D unity prefab/model

City: A large 3D model / demo scene of a city

Nature: a large 3D model / demo of a nature scene

References

Barnett, J.P. (2021). A Beginner’s Guide to Making VR Buttons. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at:

[Accessed 18 Sep. 2022].

Boeldt, D., McMahon, E., McFaul, M. and Greenleaf, W. (2019). Using Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy to Enhance Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Identifying Areas of Clinical Adoption and Potential Obstacles. [online] frontiers. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00773/full#:~:text=Incorporating%20VR%20in%20therapy%20can,in%20vivo%20or%20imaginal%20exposure. [Accessed 18 Sep. 2022].

Chapman, T. (2022). City ambience, background noise of traffic, city hum. [WAV] ZapSplat. Available at: https://www.zapsplat.com/music/city-ambience-background-noise-of-traffic-city-hu... [Accessed 18 Sep. 2022].

Walkers, G. (2022). City ambience recorded in the afternoon from 4th floor facing an inner patio, residential, distant voices with labourers working, dogs barking, church bell in distance. [WAV] ZapSplat. Available at: https://www.zapsplat.com/music/city-ambience-recorded-in-the-afternoon-from-4th-... [Accessed 18 Sep. 2022].

UI button click 4. (2022). [WAV] ZapSplat. Available at: https://www.zapsplat.com/music/ui-button-click-4/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2022]

Unity Assets

Fantasy Skybox FREE by Render Knight

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/textures-materials/sky/fantasy-skybox-free-18353

Low-Poly Simple Nature Pack by JustCreate

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/landscapes/low-poly-simple-nature-pack-162153

Nature - Essentials by Nox_Sound

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/audio/ambient/nature/nature-essentials-208227

Prototyping Pack (Fee) by DigitalKonStrukt https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/prototyping-pack-free-94277

Real New York City Vol. 2 by Geopipe, Inc.

https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/urban/real-new-york-city-vol-2-222827

White City by ALIyerEdon