Just A Normal Room

In society we are urged to be adults, but going towards that goal we tend to lose our inner child. That inner child whose fantasy is unburdened by the weight of responsibility, frames and boxes. What if you could see a room through a lens coloured with the fantasy of a child again? Just a normal room could turn into quite an interesting adventure.

Updates:

Our experience was chosen to represent Futuregames in the Next M event, which will take place in Stockholm on April 26 - 27, 2023.

Duration

2 weeks.

Team

Ivar Kronqvist (Animation & Programming);
Jad Tawbi (Programming);
Karl Östman (Audio);
Rang Li (Art);
Sheila Géa (Producer, Game Design & Animation).

About the project

This experience was developed in the classroom for the Immersive Experience Creator course (FutureGames). The challenge was to create a VR experience in just two weeks, and the playtest took place at an exhibition at the Museum of Technology (Tekniska Museet) in Stockholm.

Presentation video

2:00

Tools used in the process

Unity;
GitHub;
Miro;
Midjourney;
Adobe Premiere Pro;
Blender;

Creation Process

Hand tracking development process

Moodboard

Concept

The concept for Just A normal Room Virtual Experience starts in “the real world”. We want to let the user/player really get the feeling of entering a second world. Thus the experience starts from a regular real-world perspective.

We have created a space where you enter from a real door into the real world. This emphasises the mundane and also represents a portal into the experience. The virtual layer that fits onto this real-world layer is fitted with tracking so the user will have a real physical connection throughout the whole experience. The room is furnished with a bed and a table filled with different items. The real-world room is purposely very sparingly furnished with bland colours. Something the original VR layer mimics.

Once inside the room, the user/player is free to roam and explore. The user/player will soon realise that the walls in the room are fitted with real walls as well as the furniture to anchor all objects for the user in both VR and the real world. This creates an almost surreal feeling for the user/player. Upon exploring the room, the user/player will find objects that are everyday objects, for example, a wooden stick, bananas, and paper balls. Upon exploring the objects, transformations happen. All the props are mundane childlike things, but if the visitor interacts with them, an experience unlocks. A stick becomes a sword, and you have to fight the chair in an epic battle. Sitting down on your mat makes you fly away into faraway lands. Turning on the radio makes all the plants dance.

User experience

In Just a Normal Room, we want to explore the free creativity of an adult that gets their fantasy back, and we urge them to play as if they were children again. The experience starts with the user/player positioning themselves in front of the real-world door/portal that separates the user/player from the ordinary room. A moment of onboarding where the user/player gets instructions on what to not do from a safety perspective.

For example, no acceleration in the room due to the fact that walls in the virtual experience are actual walls. Along with encouragement to try and interact with the objects in the room. As the person grabs the door handle and enters the room, the experience commences, and the player/user is free to move around in the room to interact and connect to his/her/their childhood. The experience has a time limit which is a voice telling them to stop playing and come to dinner, which is a snap back to reality kind of moment.