Prototyping Tool for Large Scale Interactive Experiences

Abstract

In the age where entertainment is the driving force behind the functioning of large
industries, companies like SONY have figured out a way to market their entertainment
content including movies, music, and games using large-scale interactive marketing and
promotional content. Building and testing such content before it is released on large
and complex devices is a continuously challenging task and there have been efforts
both in academia and industry made to ameliorate this content production workflow.
The thesis aimed to address the common problem associated with large interactive
content and propose a novel solution with virtual reality. This thesis thoroughly
discussed a use case of a visualizer that lets the designers, developers, and stakeholder
experience such large-scale content as a simulation both on a desktop computer and in
virtual reality. We had an in-depth discussion about the design and development cycle
of a visualizer and talked about the methods and technology used to build it. The thesis
also described in detail the evaluation of the first iteration of the product. Although
there were some limitations to the study, we concluded that virtual prototyping is
indeed a good way of tackling design problems for large interactive experiences.

Popular Abstract

Computer simulations are digital reconstructions of the real world with a specific fo-
cus on the required parameters. The simulated environment provides a play area for

developers and testers to perform testing and check if the product behaves in the ex-
pected way. Among many forms of simulation, visualized representation is the most

looked upon one. Visualizations are digital methods that present and communicate

information visually. Our vision has the largest ”bandwidth” for information, there-
fore, is the most useful sense in product development and testing. The activity of

using simple yet effective representations and simulations to assist the development
and testing of a product is referred to as prototyping. Prototyping can take many
forms from comic drawings on paper to almost finished products; the form that we are
interested in is prototyping using computer simulations.

Virtual Reality or VR, is a technology that aims to provide increasingly more
”real” senses in the digital space and ultimately to replace our own interface with the
real world, could serve as a technology that provides increasingly better simulations.
Therefore, VR is a promising technology for digital prototyping methods. We believed
that the current state of VR technology is ready for it. The use case we chose to dive
in, is the simulation of large-scale interactive content which played a vital role as an
attention grabber in the growing entertainment market. These contents are designed
to be attractive and interactive, but often very limited because of the lack of testing.
We aimed to change this situation by adapting VR to our work.

The challenging part is the interactions surrounding VR. As a novel technology,
we had to carefully examine the interactions between us and VR. For example, are
the user behaviors required in the VR experience natural and intuitive? We wanted
to investigate if prototyping in VR is an effective way.

• author: Unnava, Venkata Satya Anurag Gargeya and Liu, Yiyang
• supervisor: Günter Alce
• organization: Department of Design Sciences
• alternative title: A Study on the design, development and usability of a prototyping tool for large scale interactive experiences.
• course: MAMM15 20231
• year: 2023
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Interactive Content, Large Scale Interactive Content, Visualizer, Simulations
• language: English
• id: 9128220
• date added to LUP: 2024-03-28 08:45:15
• date last changed: 2024-03-28 08:45:15