Introduction

The Challenge: A 2-week project to create a virtual reality app that engages potential visitors, built with HTML and A-Frame.

The Goal: VR technology is still nascent, and the biggest markets are with mobile phones, such as the Daydream, that have limited functionality. I wanted to develop something that would be practical within this limitation.

The User: This project focused on the technology rather than user research. I combined my interests in the outdoors and meditation to design something I was personally interested in using.

The Result: An app that lets the user choose their scenery, an audio track, and meditation aids such as a timer and gong, in order to help people escape clear their mind while they are at work, have some downtime on the go, or looking for soul food in the comfort of their home. 

Skills

Contextual Inqueries | User Interviews | Information Architecture | Customer Journey Maps | Persona Creation | Prototyping | UI Design | SWOT Analysis

Tools

Sketch, A-Frame, Google Pixel 2, Google Daydream, Headphones

Photos

Located throughout this article are photospheres that I took for this project.

If you have a VR headset you can view the collection here on your phone, choose a photo, click on the VR icon, and then insert your phone into your headset.

I was not able to visit a National Park in the time frame that I had, but I was able to go out to the Virginia countryside to get some nice photos off the Potomac River, near Harpers Ferry.

Research

Virtual Reality

Several years ago I purchased an Oculus Rift DK2. I used it to wander around some 3D environments and play some basic games. I remember being both amazed and nauseous. I have been interested in VR ever since.

I have a Pixel 2 phone, which allows me to take photosphere photos and view them in the Google Daydream viewer. The pictures look very flat, the field of view is narrow, and the Pixel 2 doesn't have the resolution as something like the Oculus or Vive, but it's still fun to put on some music and scroll through photospheres I have taken.

Meditation Apps

I personally use Insight Timer for my meditation sessions, which has the ability to set a timer with a gong that can periodically sound to refocus my attention. I also checked out the popular meditation apps Calm and Headspace. From them I took the idea of allowing the user to choose a soundtrack of guided meditation, nature sounds, and both up beat and down beat music, depending on what the user is interested in.