Protect Our Caribou
VR Design, UI / UX
Immerse yourself in the virtual Canadian Boreal Forest to understand the severe winter impacts on caribou and their habitat. This VR experience engages users with interactive storytelling and realistic environments to highlight the challenges caribou face due to climate change.
May - June 2024
Team: Prue Steadson, Maeesha Reza
The Aim
The project aims to raise awareness about the ecological impacts of climate change on the caribou population in the Boreal Forest and encourage proactive measures to help conserve their habitat. This experience is designed for environmental enthusiasts, educators, and students to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for wildlife conservation efforts.
Design Process
Research: Extensive research was conducted to authentically depict the Boreal Forest and understand the biological and ecological aspects of caribou life. This ensured the VR experience was scientifically accurate and educational.
Development Phases: The project started with brainstorming different environmental settings and settled on the Boreal Forest due to available resources and prior experience with snowy environments. The development faced and overcame challenges such as glitchy assets and changing interactive mechanisms based on user feedback.
Tools and Technologies: Built using Unity with assets from the Unity Asset Store, including stylized snowy trees and animated caribou models, complemented by a realistic sound landscape to enhance immersion.
Outcomes
User Feedback/Testing Results: Initial user testing highlighted visibility issues with interaction cues, which were iteratively improved based on feedback, enhancing user engagement and educational value.
Future Improvements: Future updates could include a temperature slider to simulate the effects of varying climate conditions on the forest ecosystem, providing an even more interactive and educational experience.
The Solution
VR Experience Overview: Users navigate a detailed, animated forest environment where they interact with elements like caribou and various plant species. The journey involves helping a caribou adapt to the changing environment, from struggling to find food to eventually thriving as part of a healthy herd.
Key Features: The experience features a diegetic user interface, seamless teleportation between narrative points, and interactive elements such as restoring plants and watching caribou adapt by growing thicker fur.
An overhead view of the map displays distinct blocks to which users teleport to advance through the experience. This design minimizes nausea by reducing excessive movement in VR.
The VR experience includes an interactive "restoring plant" feature, where users revive withered plants back to their lush, green state, demonstrating the positive impact of environmental restoration. This hands-on interaction educates users about the importance of ecosystem health for wildlife survival
Final Solution
Here is a video detailing our final design.