Explore --> Ideate --> Design & Develop --> Evaluate --> Iterate

Problem definition, competitive analysis, user flow & storyboard, feature prioritization, wireframes, spatial mapping, in-VR prototyping (Google Blocks), VR prototyping (Unity), and usability testing.

Unity game engine, Google Blocks, Unity Editor VR (beta), Paper & Sharpies

Virtual Reality is an extremely effective educational tool due to spatial learning and emotional engagement; in other words, experiential learning. VR has shown to bring out more questions and enthusiasm from students, in addition to form more concrete memories of the subject matter. Many studies also point towards our emotions driving our learning, illustrating that the more emotionally engaged we are with a topic, the more information we will retain. 

Wait, but why?

There are two main parts of our brain that regulate our emotions: the limbic system and the cerebral cortex. Our limbic system plays an important role in regulating our emotions and processing memory. In fact, our limbic system is so strong that we tend to follow emotion-based decision making rather than rationality rather than rational thoughts. On the other hand, our cerebral cortex helps us make rational decisions based on the interpretation of sensory information. The main function of the cerebral cortex is to regulate our emotions and judgments.

Our emotional state affects our memory, and our memory is related to our learning. We recall our memories easily later on when these memories form during a specific emotional state. A student will likely remember walking through the bottom of the ocean learning about the marine floor ecosystem than only a lecture on these organisms, due to the emotional engagement  The chances are greater that you remember a rock climbing experience than you remember a lecture about rock climbing because you experience different emotions during the actual action. 

Diving Deeper into Game Mechanics

The equation generator is the script responsible for randomly making an equation for the player to answer, based on the selected state (the selected operation and level of difficulty). 

The state machine controls the activity happening in the level, again based on the operation and level of difficulty. There is a different state for every operation and the corresponding level of difficulty.

The Game Manager keeps track of the high-level mechanics, such as the score, player health, which scripts are running, and how many asteroids are in existence.

The Asteroid Spawning and their path to the player fall on the Asteroid script, which controls the frequency of asteroids spawning and their speed moving towards the player. The frequency and speed correspond to the level of difficulty selected as well. The Asteroid Spawning script also destroys the asteroid when the player inputs the correct number based on the equation.

The score, though falling under the Game Manager, was an intersection of the UI manager and the Game Manager. For that reason, we treated this as a separate component for one person to tackle. 

The UI manager is a script responsible for controlling all user inputs on the UI panel, and updating the score UI as the player answers the equations correctly.

And of course, the input interaction refers to how the player would interact with the UI to input their answer. We thought of three options for this prototype, and built out three versions: multiple choice, voice recognition, and button interaction. We used three input interaction scripts to usability test the three options, and all three of them took the user input, checked the user answer with the correct answer, and the messaged then messaged the Asteroid Script to destroy the asteroid if the answer was correct.