Introduction to Biology: A Virtual Reality
Intro to AR/VR Part 1
Problem Statement
AR/VR technologies have taken the medical and biological spaces by storm allowing students to practice procedures on simulators and virtual realities to prepare themselves for humans. This grants a safe space to learn and make mistakes before they head out to the real world. However, what about the students wanting to get into the medical and biological space? Are there ways to engage a student visually at an early stage to create more inclusive spaces for anatomical learning at the undergraduate or even high school level? More importantly, how can we increase one-on-one student time to improve students' knowledge and practice at an early stage to keep students motivated, retain information, and prevent premature burnout?
Competitive Analysis
Given the climate of COVID-19, the necessity for medical students and students engaging with lab settings such as cadaver labs needed a way to engage with the material. Fisk University launched their very own cadaver lab. They partnered with HTC to provide headsets and design a lab experience to be interactive and immersive in the world of biology.
Find out more about Fisk University and their medical education: VR Cadaver Lab
Complete Anatomy is an app on the market that has expert-led lectures and quizzes in addition to an in-depth AR/AR anatomically correct human body. This is an excellent resource for students studying biology and anatomy courses to have a more 3D visual study method than the traditional 2D labeling method while using the space around you.
More on the app and its functionalities here: AR Teaching Application Review
Refined Scope/Idea Selection - VR Introduction to Biology: Animal Cells Lesson
Step 1: Storyboarding
As the idea was refined, I used two methods of storyboarding to illustrate the interactions of the cell VR experience and the movement and degrees of movement that can be expected from a user in this experience
1) Traditional Storyboard
Preliminary sketches for the outlined interactions of the Animal Cell in VR. Key interactions highlighted are entering and walking around the cell, seeing organelles at larger scales, and interactivity with cell parts with definition displayed upon selection.
2) VR User Storyboard
Sketches to show range of motion and scale as user interacts with product on how close or far user approaches the object.
Step 2: 360° Prototyping Sketch
To further experiment with sizing and position, 360° sketch paper was used to illustrate user immersion within the experience. The sketch was then uploaded to XR MOOC to see the experience in action.
Step 3: Physical Prototyping
Below are the materials used and an orchestrated video to create a physical prototype to map our interactions in real time using real space and perspectives
Step 4: Digital Prototype
Basic interactions and positioning was curated to illustrate user immersed in VR universe of a mini Animal Cell Lesson using Unity.
Final Prototype Video
Here is the link to a short Google Slides presentation summarizing the overall process and final design.
Experience Creator: Leila Boudalia
Thumbnail Image Credit: Vinicius "amnx" Amano | Unsplash.com