Project Overview
Sentis, an organisation specialising in psychology-based workplace safety training, approached us to develop a virtual reality experience for the Meta Quest. The goal was to create an engaging, game-like training program that could be used at events and workshops to educate users about workplace safety through the lens of brain function in high-stress situations.
My Role
As the Creative Director and Lead Designer at Hyper Theory, I was responsible for:
- Leading the creative direction
- Developing the design system and language based off the Sentis brand
- Creating user flow diagrams and UI/UX designs
- Overseeing environmental sound design and AI voiceover implementation
- Managing animations and interactions
- Conducting user testing, organising and actioning client feedback
- Collaborating with Unity developer Frank, 3D artist, Simon and our Director, Belinda.
The Challenge
Our task was to create an immersive VR experience that would effectively teach core safety concepts while feeling more like a game than a traditional training program. We needed to design an experience that was accessible to VR novices while still being engaging and educational.
The Solution
We developed an 8-level VR experience that covered crucial safety concepts such as:
- 7 Units
- DIPI (Dangerous, Important, Pleasurable, Interesting)
- Inattentional Blindness
- Change Blindness
- Impact of Fatigue on Concentration
- Impact of Stress on Performance
- Myth of Multitasking
Each level was designed with specific goals, making the learning process more engaging and interactive.
Design Process
- Environment Development: Collaborated with the 3D artist and director to create a map of the VR environment and plan level locations.
- Visual Direction: Used generative AI to conceptualize environments, which were then created in 3D using Blender.
- User Interface Design: Developed a design system in Figma and created most UI components and screens, which were then exported into Unity.
- User Experience: Created user flow diagrams in Figma that would inform the experience
- Quality Assurance and User Testing: I created a spreadsheet that would log and track and assign bugs and issues to each person responsible. We used this document internally and to send to the client. We logged nearly 300 pieces of feedback from both the client and from internal feedback.
- Innovative Features: Implemented an animated AI voiceover learning assistant, similar to Apple's Siri, to enhance user engagement.
Challenges and Solutions
Throughout the project, we faced various challenges:
- Ensuring accessibility for VR novices
- My first time using and designing for VR
- Balancing educational content with engaging gameplay
- Creating gameplay that wouldn’t crash the headset or be difficult to build using Unity
- Integrating complex safety concepts into an interactive format
We overcame these challenges through:
- Regular testing sessions and close collaboration with Frank, our Unity developer
- Continuous client feedback and improvement integration
- Putting ourselves in the end-users' shoes to anticipate potential issues
- Playing out in-game and user scenarios to understand the interactions and user flows
Results
The final product exceeded expectations:
- Client was extremely satisfied with the created experience
- End-users were blown away by the immersive and educational nature of the program
- Successfully created a safety training program that felt more like a game than traditional training
Conclusion
This project showcases our ability to innovate in the VR space, creating engaging educational experiences that push the boundaries of traditional training methods. My understanding of creating VR experiences is now at a high level where I want to understand more about how to use the Unity UI Toolkit to create UI directly into Unity. The success of the Sentis VR project demonstrates our commitment to delivering high-quality, user-focused solutions that meet and exceed client expectations.
