Project Description
The activity that we chose as a basis for the interaction and the environment in which it is carried out is pressing a light switch. It is an action that most people become familiar with early on in their lives and they naturally develop an assumption that there should be a change in the lighting of a room when a light switch is pressed. We decided to work with this very natural and intuitive interaction that most people have grown up doing and add an element of surprise and unexpectedness. After pressing the switch, we make the surroundings and the environment suddenly alternate. Although the user begins with being located inside a regular kitchen and dining area, after exploring the room and interacting with two switches placed in the room, the user learns that the space becomes irregular after the switches have been pressed. If one of the switches is responsible for turning on or off the lights in a room, therefore indicating a more natural and common interaction, the other causes fireflies coming from plants to gradually fill up the room. This response transforms the room in an alternate world and gives more capability to the simple interaction of pressing a switch, as the user now learns that there are more possibilities than only the commonly assumed one.
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Process and Implementation
Our brainstorming sessions started while still preparing the project for a virtual world using a VR headset and controllers. The initial idea was to illustrate a morning routine and what the effect of a morning coffee has on a person’s mind and imagination, as it comes back to life after the night’s sleep. We were first asked to come up with three interactions and all three that we chose were part of a regular morning routine that many people have. At first, the users would find themselves in a dark hallway where the only thing in front of them would be a door. The back of the hallway would be dark and access to the rest of the hallway would be restricted in the VR environment. Using visual cues such as an apparent handle, we would invite the users to interact with the door eventually opening it and finding themselves inside of a kitchen. There would be different appliances and furniture inside of the kitchen, yet some of the objects would have stronger visual cues than others, therefore guiding the users to explore them in more depth. The first object to appear more apparent would be a light switch which would be responsible for turning on the lights in the room, just as a person does when walking inside of a dark kitchen in the early morning. The next and last object that would allow for an interaction would be a coffee machine. The interaction would be to grab a coffee cup and when it happens, the environment around would suddenly change – the color ambience of the room would become more vibrant, plants in the room would go from dead to green, etc. This reaction would represent the effect of the morning coffee on a person’s mind.
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Unfortunately, we all had to adapt our initial ideas and narrow it down to just one interaction that would not be carried out using a VR headset anymore. After discussing with my groupmates, we decided to keep the interaction of pressing a light switch as we thought it was a captivating interaction and we could see using it as a means to still carry out some of the ideas that we had previously brainstormed. Therefore, we changed the concept of the project and decided to make an alternate switch world where instead of only a regular action happening from pressing a light switch also more unprecedented and unusual events would take place, such as turning fireworks outside of the window on or off or filling the room with fireflies. We decided to carry on with the idea of the fireflies instead of the initial idea of color change or dead plants, as we liked the visual effect and feel that the fireflies added to the room. We also added fireworks that are happening outside of the window and which can be turned off by pressing the light switch which also controls the lighting, therefore suggesting an alternate action by using an everyday object. The user starts in a room which is lit up and has fireworks but can then turn off the lighting and the fireworks to move on to to the next switch to fill the now dark room with fireflies.
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The everyday component in our world is the initial environment and the room itself, as well as the action that is carried out in this setting. The kitchen and dining area was made to look as realistic as possible with normal and everyday appliances and furniture. The light switches look like regular switches, and we also worked hard to make the visual effect of pressing the switch look natural – the switch flips up or down when the interaction happens. Up to the moment when the user realizes that there are unexpected reactions happening in this world, the user would just think that it is a regular everyday setting. However, once noticing the control over the fireflies and the fireworks, the user realizes that the world is more alternate than an everyday world.
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It was definitely a challenge to implement our interaction with using a keyboard instead of a Vive system. When we were thinking about how the user could use the Vive controllers to press the light switch it seemed as a more intuitive interaction, as the user could literally use their hand to approach the switch in the world and then physically press a button on the controller. Because of changing the project to a keyboard, we had to come up with a different solution. In order to move around we used WASD keys, as they are very intuitive in the gaming world. In order to give some guidance to the user about how to press the switch we included some visuals and there is a text box that pops up on the screen with instructions to press the key ‘e’ on the keyboard to press the light switch.
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Reflection/Evaluation
I think that we managed to achieve an alternate world version of our chosen activity because the results from the interaction are very different and unusual from what a user would normally expect from pressing a light switch. In order to make the experience more intuitive to the player we included a small, but in my opinion necessary visual cue which was to add small lights on the switches which would draw the player’s attention to the switch area. In that way, we tried to design a more intuitive experience to the player, similarly as with adding some text when the user enters the switch area and is able to press a key to turn the switch on or off. Overall, I think that the end result was in line with how we had envisioned the revised version of the project. We utilized those keys that we thought would be the most intuitive in a keyboard world. However, I think that if we were able to use the Vive headset and controllers, the medium would allow for a more thorough and memorable experience for the user, both in terms of controlling the interactions and also the immersion within the space.
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Agency Question
The action that we designed for the user is the interaction with the light switch. We looked thoroughly to find the most appropriate light switch asset for it to look the most intuitive and natural in order for the user to not confuse it with something else. We wanted the user to start off in the kitchen, look around and be sure right away that there are two light switches located on either side of the walls. We then added the small lights that indicate the player that there is something awaiting them in the switch area, as the lights are subtly inviting them to move forward to the switches. Once the user enters the area we incorporated the textbox that appears on the screen with instructions on what to do next. Ideally, we wanted the user to use their hand to approach it in the direction of the switch and then press a button on the controller if we were using the Vive setup. However, as this option was not possible anymore, we took a step back and looked at the simplest versions of game design. In our opinion, an effective and intuitive way to communicate something in games is by using a subtle text box with instructions, therefore we chose that to communicate to the player. Lastly, we made sure that the switch would change position after it is pressed in order for the user to feel like some action actually took place. We anticipated that he user would otherwise feel a sense of disappointment and unfinishedness if the state of the switch did not change. We think that these steps allow for the user to feel like the action was meaningful, as they have been guided towards the switches by using visual cues and they anticipate something to happen because it is their expectation based on real life precedents when seeing a light switch and pressing it.