May – August 2021

This was the first project I was involved with at Part Time Evil. I focused on implementing and testing the Oculus VR SDKs as well as the UI/UX interactions. I was also asked to layout the claustrophobia scene. I staged and blocked the characters in the cramped elevator, focusing on how many characters will enter the elevator and where each will end up to pass on to the mo-cap animator.

The other two scenarios I had heavy involvement in were the animal scenario and social fear scenario, where I was the timeline editor for both. For social fear, the client wanted the users to have virtual judges pop into the room. To achieve this, I developed a mock mic check to fool the user into thinking they were being recorded and messages that showed when each judge would log in or off.

Before release, I optimized the lighting for every scene in the experience, focusing on baked lighting that was performant while still looking good in headset. I also implemented the rating system which occurred after every scenario. The results collected were saved to an excel spreadsheet stored in the headset’s internal storage.

Scenarios

• Social fear – virtual judges listen to the participant read a speech and answer math questions under a time limit.
  • UI/UX – mic check
  • Timeline editing – animations, SFX, tablet with speech and math questions
• Claustrophobia – the user is placed in an old, shaky elevator with a hole on the ground. As the elevator climbs up, more and more people enter the elevator until it suddenly stops and the lights go out.
  • Layout
  • Timeline editing – animations, SFX, floor indicator
• Fear of aggression – the participant encounters an angry man in a coffee shop. The man stomps ahead of the user and furiously demands the place remakes his order. He then turns suddenly to the user and shouts at them.
  • Timeline editing – prop animation and SFX
• Fear of injury – the user wakes up in a dirty triage room, next to bandages and other medical tools coated in blood. To add to injury, the doctor is young, unprofessional, and unqualified.
• Fear of harmless insects and animals – a friend has tasked the user with checking on their pets. The participant is placed in an old, decaying house with roaches, a tarantula, bird, mice, and dogs. Each make noise and become active throughout the experience.
  • Set dressing
  • Timeline editing – animations and SFX
• Neutral – the user is placed in an empty room with an aquarium for 3 minutes. This was used to establish the user’s baseline emotions.