Final project for Introduction to Virtual Environments (INF 385T) at The University of Texas at Austin, Fall 2021. See more here.

Overview

VRZen works to foster a calming space specically designed for students. The project aims to fill the support gap between contacting university mental health services and attending the first appointment, although the platform has potential to be used indefinitely. This prototype is a first step in addressing student needs while reducing reliance on physical university spaces by way of:

● Refuge within a calming virtual space available 24/7

● Peer support from other students using the app at their university

● Virtually guided meditation and mindfulness exercises

● Compiled resources for further self-care, in VR and beyond

By providing a readily available resource to university students experiencing psychological duress, VRZen attempts to help manage some of the student’s most pressing stressors until they are able to receive professional help.

Contribution Statement

My specific contributions to the demo include:

● Constructing/designing the waiting room and quiet room

● Designing the portal mechanisms and connecting the outside meditative environments

● Setting up the movement of and interactions with the NPC support animal

● Mocking UI elements and providing information on proposed features

● Integrating all scenes for Oculus Quest, including grabbing capabilities

● Capturing footage of the project for the promotional video using Unity Timeline

● Conceptualizing additional avenues for demo expansion, including a “take a sweet/leave a sweet” feature (where students can share audio notes attached to a piece of candy)