ux case study
Speculating a ‘protopian’ virtual future using emerging tech
Experiential prototype for a VR concierge experience
Role:
Director & Designer
Type:
Personal Project
Timeline :
3 months (2022)
Project Summary
Envisioning virtual spaces that empower people and protect them from unregulated and triggering content with wellness as a core value
Key Takeaways
- Speculative and protopian take on navigating in virtual spaces
- An exploration in self-censorship while using emerging tech in a meaningful way
- Empowerment through decentralised and self-ownership of data
Opportunity Space
An unsolicited virtual experience
“Once you’re actually embodied in a space, even though you can’t be physically touched, we can be exposed to things that take on a level of realism that could be psychologically assaulting.”
~ Albert “Skip” Rizzo
director for medical virtual reality at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies
Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that minors were regularly exposed to graphic sexual content, racist and violent language, bullying and other forms of harassment on VRChat
The Challenge
Can we make an emotionally intelligent virtual assistant that guards physical, mental, emotional and psychological health?
Potential Solutions
Attempts by Decentraland
‘Profanity Filter’ – censors swear words and other sensitive content.
Block or report a player – is an afterthought
Design Vision
A virtual concierge experience that acts as a second consciousness of a person. It is meant to be a barrier between problematic content and a person that may not recover from it.
Bio-HCI
Interfacing with the human body and using bodily signals as communication.
Voice Interface
Primary interaction through voice commands provides a conversational experience
Safety & privacy
Responsible use of tech with a central focus on privacy and ownership of sensitive data.
Rapid Prototyping
The virtual concierge might look like..., work like... and feel like...
Ideation
Fork in the road: censorship vs boundaries
The episode “Arkangel” from Netflix’s “Black Mirror” demonstrated how the censorship setting on the app stunted a little girl’s development.
Even though the episode was an extreme case, it helped me realize that the experience would benefit from being self-tracking and self-censorship model instead. It can help bring about positive behavioral changes while always letting the person be in control of their data and their experience.
User Research
Here’s Angie for example...
Angie is a high school student who occasionally engages with the virtual world. They suffer from anxiety and are triggered by violence and graphic representation of violence. Their happy place is anything with puppies.
Physical Sensitivities
- Suffers from asthma (Allergic to dust and pollen)
Data Touchpoints
- Change in breathing
Mental Sensitivities
- Anxiety Disorder
- Triggered by violence, graphic representation
- Currently practicing CBT
Data Touchpoints
- Speech errors, varying speech tone
Emotional Sensitivities
- Fear is an natural response accompanying anxiety
Data Touchpoints
- Change in pulse and body temperature
Service Blueprint
What would the Bio-Human Computer Interaction look like?
Experiential Prototype
How would the virtual concierge interact with you?
