Recycling @NYUAD is a project that strives to bring awareness to the environment and waste issue at NYU Abu Dhabi. It seems that many of our students lack the knowledge of recycling properly and frequently, so we want to use this project to address that problem.
The look & feel:
One important decision we made in terms of the campus was to focus on one portion of it – not too much space, but enough to move around, be able to see trash littered around, but at the same time exude a sense of a closed space so players don’t wander around and stay within that designated area. Our set area was the space right outside D2, where there are grass patches and A6 and The Arts Center are on the side.
My job was to create the actual space. I took references from taking photos in the actual space and also looking at Google Map to see what the player would actually be seeing if they were standing in that space.
Initially I tried looking for prefabs that could be used for this project but because our campus is very unique in design, it was difficult to find anything similar. So I started building them from scratch on Unity using 3D shapes. The key was to layer them together to mimic the building structures and add elements for details.
On my part, I’m pretty satisfied with how the environment turned out. It was my first time building assets from scratch and it took a lot of trials and errors, but I enjoyed the process and liked how it turned out. I also spent a while experimenting with different skyboxes and eventually settled on a bright, cloudy sky look, which fit the environment quite well. The main things I learned in the process of building the 3D space were 1) using the right color, 2) getting the relative size of buildings correct, 3) adding small but important details that can make that space look more realistic and accurate.
After I completed all buildings and the environment was finished, I passed it onto Ju Hee, who incorporated prefabs of objects that populate the space, such as chairs, tables, and trash.
For the interaction, Simran and Yufei worked on how the player would pick up the trash. The pieces of trash glow yellow when the player is nearby, indicating that they can pick them up, which they can then dump them in the recycling bin. A sound plays if it is recycled properly and another sound plays if it’s not.
In reflection, if we had more time I think we could have worked more on making the interaction more sophisticated – for instance, making the trash come to live and react angrily if the player chooses to ignore it and not pick it up to recycle it. It could shake and make a roaring sound until the player actually picks it up. I think this would have made the experience more engaging and interesting. Making the trash come more alive would also be taking advantage of VR as a medium as it’s not bound by how things work in the real world.
We also had issues re-styling the environment for the interaction as the space itself was pretty big. Looking back, I think we could have spent more time trying to adjust the size and scale more.
I would also work more on the space, decorate the buildings a little more, and maybe even add animations of people sitting around and chatting to each other near the Dining Hall. All of these contributions would add to the experience when the player is in the space, making it engaging and immersive.
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After user-testing & presentation in class:
I was very delighted to find that a lot of my classmates found our project very fun to play. To our surprise, people started throwing the trash around to see if they can throw it into the trash can from afar. It was interesting to see how our supposed weakness of having a huge space contributed to the fun element. Moving on, we could make use of this feature – if the player throws the trash from afar and fails to throw it into the trash can, it comes flying back and doubles in number! To add to the educational element, we could also have words pop up onscreen, giving numbers and facts about our waste control at NYU Abu Dhabi and how different kinds of trash should be properly recycled.
I was also pleased that people found the environment very familiar. I spent a lot of time trying to build The Arts Center, The Dining Hall, A6 as well as the grass patches from scratch, so it was very rewarding to hear my friends telling me that they could immediately recognize the space.