Project

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Wind Will Tell

3D Game | Therapeutic Art | Experimental Game Controller

3D game is a collaborated project with Hannah Oh

(5 weeks, Role: User Researcher / 3D modeler / Game Engine Artist)

Tools

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Unity

Blender

Arduino

Description

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An immersive game journey through a series of globes in search of a dandelion, featuring ambient sounds of swaying grass, moving rails, and shifting cityscapes.
With first-person and third-person perspectives, players immerse, heal, empathize with heightened perceptions of their surroundings, and contemplate their presence as a human, a plant's seed, or even the wind itself.

People with higher sensitivity, like orchids, struggle more to adapt to new environment.

The problem statement is…

Through a restorative environment, Reshape perceptions of our environment by fostering empathy and understanding among people with varying sensitivities.

The project envisions…

Research

  • We want to create a restorative environment by bringing natural elements and reducing distractive activities to help “orchid” people regain their attention.

  • We aim to design an interactive narrative game that’s surreal, slow-paced, and emotionally evocative.

Player Research

As the user researcher, I gave the 7-point scale quiz to 31 students aged 12 to 22. All flower types were interviewed for a comprehensive analysis on restorative environments.

46%

32%

22%

“Road trips are my stress relief. You don’t have to think much when driving, and the scenery makes the journey worthwhile.”

Rena (she/her):

Age: 21, Location: California, United States

“I hope to learn to communicate with HSPs. I can resonate with my best friend but don’t know how to support him.”

Yinghao (he/him):

Age: 17, Location: Shanghai, China

We refined our design focus based on interviews from the two following aspects:

  • Sensitivity: “Orchids” are sensitive to both stressful and positive environments, perceiving the world through a subtle and aesthetic lens.

  • Empathy: There's a growing demand to learn the perspective of "orchids" and understand how they process deep emotions compared to other types (78% of the sample).

Game Elements Design

Outcome 1. 3D game

The game design focuses on environment storytelling and healing gameplay elements.

The game is made from scratch with Unity 3D and custom C# scripts for generated gravity and interactive animation. The final build is available for download and play (Windows only) :

#Faux Gravity #Interactive Animation #POV #Post-Processing

*Notes on Game Control: WSAD to move, 1&2 to switch camera

Game Flow

Garden Globe

Train Globe

City Globe

Dandelion Globe

Visual Reference & Concept Development

Outcome 2. Experimental Game controller

The experimental game controller aims to enhance the nonverbal therapeutic experience through simple movements.

Controller View

Exhibition Space View

Game View

Design Concept

To further enhance the nonverbal therapeutic experience, I hope to redesign game controllers as rolling balls in a sandbox. Clockwise rolling (key W) moves the player forward, which mimics the planet walk in the game.

*Notes on new key controls:

  1. Rolling the ball by each increment would press W once.

  2. Faster rolling speed results in a smooth planet walk.

Design Development

Final Display

Credits:

Outcome 1:

Collaboration project by Yichen Pan and Hannah Oh

Role: User researcher, 3D modeler (scene 3+4), Game Engine Artist

Outcome 2:

Individual Exploration by Yichen Pan