VR Home

Overview

ROLE: Designer/Prototyper and Researcher: prototype concept development, lead development and implementation of co-design activities with research participants, user study analysis, paper co-author

This research project explores the idea of a hybrid virtual-physical home that uses virtual space to supplement an existing physical home, identifying methods for meaningful and embodied communication across distance.

Led by Principal Investigator Dr. Jessica Hammer with funding from Verizon, our research team conducted a user study that revealed the expectations and needs people have for virtual home spaces, including security, familiarity, and community. We then prototyped and playtested three virtual rooms — built for the HTC Vive with Unity 3D and Maya — and identified design features that supported feelings of home. The research also surfaces key challenges to designing home-like VR environments that can shape future work in this area.

Exploring Hybrid Virtual-Physical Homes — Honorable Mention, Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS) 2020