Scale of the UniVRse

Inspiration

Communication, Empathy and Emotional Regulation are emotions that can be hard to develop yet are needed to be a part of society. Some learning experiences may be more difficult for some than others which can have mental health implications and impact quality of life. As stated in the University of Oslo's research article, "Overall, children’s emotion knowledge is associated with peer acceptance and success in school. Without appropriate intervention, problems in peer relationships can persist into adolescence and even adulthood." [^1] Therefore we did not limit our project to the usage of children, but also to individuals of all ages who are in need of a therapeutic experience which can develop their interpersonal abilities. Our team was also fortunate to meet Alab, a young man diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, who told us of his solitaire experience of playing virtual reality. We immediately asked if his experienced would be enhanced if there was a multiplayer game mode and it was met with a definitive yes. As stated in the research done by S.Bishop & G. Lahvis, "the key element that differentiates sharing affect from other types of emotional expressions is that shared affect requires that the expression of emotion be directed to another person." [^2] Therefore we wanted to deliver an experience that addressed the needs of individuals struggling with social capabilities while leveraging human connection to create a shared therapeutic experience.

What it does

Scale of the UniVRse allows users to select "Solo Mode: Explore" to learn about the different scales existing within the entire universe, ranging from as small as the Planck length to as big as the observable universe. The setting being set in space (stars and black background) was chosen to reduce over-stimulation as it would enable users to feel relaxed and at peace with their learning experience. Children with ASD were an inspiration in the creation of the game and would benefit from it, as stated by Healis Autism Centre, “ Children with ASD typically learn best when they follow a routine as they understand the expectations of the activities. The use of visual aids, such as a written or picture schedule, can be extremely useful in informing the child of their daily activities.” Scale of the UniVRse’s allows users to play “Multiplayer Mode: Challenge” [^3], enabling the user of the VR headset to invite a friend to play with them through their phone, tablet or computer. “Challenge” displays 3 different items whose scales are not revealed to the users and invites users to work together to select the item that is the smallest/biggest. An example of a round in “Challenge” goes as follows: Item A is a goldfish, Item B is a Watermelon and Item C is the Earth. Users would have to talk to each other and agree to select Earth to achieve 2 points. If users agree to disagree and user 1 selects the goldfish and user 2 selects Earth as their options, they would only achieve 1 point. The caveat however is, if both users agree to select goldfish, the game ends and tells them the Earth was the right answer and tells them about its characteristics.

How we built it

Scale of the UniVRse was a virtual reality experience built on Unity using C# as the main language. We were given less than 48h to build it and decided to collect different assets that ranged from the smallest items known to the universe all the way to the biggest. We designed it to be as accessible as possible to ensure that individuals who may not be able to move or have limited movement are able to play, therefore we made it entirely stationary and enabled users to move with a single controller.

Challenges we ran into

Our biggest obstacle was coming up with a game that would enable players with a virtual reality headset to play with friends who may not have a VR headset but do have a mobile device. The creation of the interface proved to be difficult but was achieved. Another challenge was that of coming up with a game that improves mental health subconsciously and that would allow for children that have ASD to require communication with friends to win. The ultimate obstacle was achieving a game that would provide positive emotions in defeat, and we ultimately found that losing with a loved one or a friend can prove to be positive for a child with ASD.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our ability to work under a constrained time limit with very superficial knowledge of virtual reality. We’re proud of the fact that we managed to recreate one of our teammate’s favourite game into virtual reality, Scale of the Universe. Not only did we manage to recreate it into virtual reality but we managed to add two different game modes from scratch.

What we learned

We learned about the needs of children with ASD and how important virtual reality therapy is for people with cognitive disorders. We were able to learn the fundamentals that are needed to build a virtual reality experience.

What's next for Scale of the UniVRse

We would want to replace all the 2D objects and replace them for 3D models to enhance the user experience. As a team, we believe that our product would benefit from added effects and possible the choice of different dimensions across time and space (I.E Under the water, Dinosaur Era).

References

[^1]: Loytomaki, J et al. "Social-Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Emotion Perception in Daily Life and in a Formal Assesment Context." Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders vol 3,53 (2022): 4744-4758. doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05768-9 [^2]: Bishop, S et al. "The Autism Diagnosis in Translation: Shared Affect in Children and Mouse Models of ASD" Autism Research vol 4,5 (2011): 317-335. doi:10.1002/aur.216

[^3]: Healis Autism. "How Environment Plays A Huge Role on The Development of Children with ASD." Healis Autism (2022). doi: N/A