The Littlewoods VR Archive
- Jan 28, 2024
- 3 min read
OVERVIEW
The simulation is an interactive VR experience that aims to educate audiences on the everyday life and routines at the Littlewoods Pools company during its heyday, using the spatial and immersive quality of VR to project visuals, sounds and accounts of former employees’ experiences.
The simulation was developed as an installation for the Littlewoods Heritage Exhibition in Liverpool as part of a course submission in the MA Immersive Media programme at Liverpool John Moores University.
THE CHALLENGE
Aside from the hurdles of programming an XR experience, the main challenge was designing one that was easy to digest yet, impactful. The goal was building an interactive experience that celebrated the company’s legacy through the use of immersive technology.
ROLES & FOCUS AREAS
I served as the sole designer, artist and developer on the project, handling the interactive narrative’s design and implementation. The project marked my transition from solely a designer and artist to a technologist and developer for XR experiences.
SOLUTION & PROCESS
IDEATION
Since dealing with themes of memory and nostalgia, the project was built on the idea of photographs as portals for time travel. The goal was implementing an interactive system that allowed audiences to experience an average workday at the company by picking up a photograph.
As someone who is not part of Liverpool’s history and culture, sufficient research on the company, its impact and legacy in Liverpool was done to build an experience that resonated with the target audiences.
DESIGN
Since the participants of the event would include elderly, former employees of the company, the simulation’s design aimed to achieve a user experience and user interaction design that is intuitive and digestible, particularly for first-time users of VR.
To summarise the user flow, the participant would initially find themselves in a study space where they would be prompted to pick up one of three photographs. On picking a specific photograph up, they would be transported to the space and time featured in the photograph. Letting go of the photograph would transport them back into the study space where they could pick another photograph to experience.
The experience’s current iteration was designed to also be stationary, with the participants spawned at specific locations within the environment to give them a clear view of their surroundings.
DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPING THE SCENE TRANSITION MECHANIC AND EFFECT
Unreal Engine 5’s built-in Grab Component feature made the photographs interactive with Blueprints used to program the interactive sequence.
A dissolving effect created by referring to the work of technical artist and developer CGHow (Youtube). Using a dynamic shader, virtual environment and its respective components would dissolve by manipulating the shader’s specific parameter using Blueprints.
USE OF SPATIAL AUDIO & SOUND CUES
Using the Oculus Spatial Audio plugin, sound could be produced and propagated realistically, with audio adding more layers of immersion to the experience.
For the project, Sound Cues were used to randomise playback of different interviews with former employees in each virtual environment. Hence, participants would hear different accounts of life at the company each time they picked up a photograph.
PROJECT OUTCOMES & NEXT STEPS
The prototype was showcased at the Littlewoods Heritage Project Launch Event in Liverpool in June of 2023. The event was attended by former employees of the company, staff members, and students.
Feedback on the experience was positive, with many of the former employees stating how the prototype captured the essence of the spaces and reminded them of their time at the company. Concerning the response to the navigability of the prototype, the audience generally found the prototype easy to use.
Involvement in the project provided an opportunity to explore the art of crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives within an interactive VR experience, leveraging the unique benefits of the medium. From a technical standpoint, the project pushed me out of my comfort zone, challenging me to cultivate new skills as a creative practitioner in the XR industry.