Sector | Simulation Project
Project Time | Six Months
My Role | User Research, User Flows, Conception, User Experience, Information Architecture, Visual Design, Rapid Prototyping
Solution
Since in the research phase the overall social perception of hydrogen and in general the attitude to energy carriers turned out to be the main concern, the considerations to the kind of the simulation developed fast to a multi-player approach. Here, each individual should have a special task but pursue a common goal.
The implementation consists of a 3D projection, which forms the core of the simulation. This projection shows a city that is about to collapse ecologically. On two opposite sides are the two users who decide together in different games of the city’s fate. The input can be e.g. work on laptops or tablets. Through a database connection, information are transmitted between the devices and thus set the parameters of the simulation on the games.
Building a mini prototype to test the hologram. Worked.
Story
The decision for the background story was made due to the team’s claim of the project sponsor Honda “The Power of Dreams”. The users are drawn into the scenario of a degenerate city. This turns out to be an image of the city in the dream of a resident. Through various mini-games, parameters can be set to save the city from destruction. The greater the success, the greater the change. After completing the games and the simulation, the user is reminded that this is not and must not be just a dream. He should take the experience and knowledge into his world and use it to make good decisions.
Concept
[From up to down] Screen, acrylic glass, game table
The odd lines and hatching are meant to break through the straightforward reality to support the dream image. In addition, the city is futuristic and floats on a platform, this is to make it clear that the user is only in an image of reality. Since the city is shown as a 3D projection, the white lines are on a black background. The fact that a slight blurring effect occurs at greater distances from the screen to the Plexiglas pyramid, supports the dreaminess. The scattered particles are intended to reinforce this impression.
Building the acrylic glass pyramid
The design style followed after some consideration of the black and white style of Sin City. In conjunction with the drawing style, the graphics are somewhat surreal and nightmarish, which fits very well into the chosen scenery.
The devices of the application communicate with each other via a database. Therefore a local server with a MySQL database was set up with XAMPP. This is accessible via a local network for all terminals within the network. To make the network communication possible, a fritz.box router has been configured not to assign IP addresses to the devices, but rather to keep the devices their preferred addresses. So the devices can be recognized again and again and the requests can be forwarded to the right recipients. The access to the database is thus permanently possible because this recognizes the user each time as authorized to access.
Behind The Scenes