lotusVR

Inspiration

In light of the recent Stanford rape case, we were shocked to learn 1 in 4 girls are sexually assaulted before 18 years old. 80% of victims are under 30 and women are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted than robbed in college.

What it does

By utilizing the highly accessible Google Cardboard, lotusVR educates the public on how to handle sexual assault in real life. We are targeting a young audience on a platform they are already using — iOS and Android smart phones. We also learned that Virtual Reality has been proven to create a higher sense of empathy with characters.

The app features 2 different simulations — one from the perspective of the victim and one from the perspective of the aggressor. The victim is prompted to voice objections, distract, and remove herself from the interaction while reassuring her this situation is not her fault. The aggressor is met with questions of if consent was given and how to clarify before moving forward.

How we built it

The working prototype was created in Unity3D with C# as the scripting language.

Challenges we ran into

First planned on developing it for the HTC Vive, but hardware setbacks allowed us to make it for the Google Cardboard, which is cheaper and more accessible.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We figured out new animations with 3D models in Unity that we hadn't used before.

What we learned

Just how pervasive sexual violence really is and how we need to work harder to address it and identify solutions.

What's next for lotusVR

We definitely want to expand the app by adding more scenes, maybe assault from a stranger as well. We want to extend the simulations to make a more realistic environment since currently each is only about 45 seconds long. We also make it even more interactive.

Pitch Deck: https://goo.gl/uNFBE0