Studio Xplorer | River Campus Libraries

An educational VR experience that introduces news users to Studio X and the world of XR

About the Project

Welcome to Studio Xplorer, where you’ll be playing as our newest robot employee. You’ll start of your shift by cleaning up the space, and getting aquatinted with the VR controls. But be careful, Quad Fox might be up to no good! In this fun and playful game you can learn all about Studio X while exploring unique worlds. Feed a dragon, shake hands with the King Ground Boi, and dream new realities with Studio Xplorer!

Studio Xplorer is an educational VR project created by staff and students that started as part of an undergraduate fellowship project. Studio Xplorer features a digital twin of Studio X’s physical space. The application introduces users to XR, Studio X, and how to use the headset and controllers through a playful escape room experience.

A Digital Twin?

Spearheaded by Liam O’Leary 22’ this project started out as a unique way to showcase Studio X, with a fully digitized 3D version of our space. This imaginative idea soon grew into a full blown VR game that teaches users how to use VR, what Studio X is all about, and showcase the technologies capabilities.

Learning Goals

To introduce new users to XR and Studio X
To inspire the user to learn more and engage with Studio X
To articulate the impact and relevance of XR

Users as Explorers

This project would not be what it is today without the countless hours of brainstorming and discussions surrounding the specifics of Studio Xplorer. Unique parts of our program such as the users role as an android robot on your first day of work, and quad fox’s villainous intentions were intentional to keep the program fun and engaging.

Users explore different worlds to collect headset pieces, these worlds include a spaceship, a fantasy island where you feed a dragon, the Eastman quad with a groundhog overlord, and even an underground club fitted with dancers. Once peace is restored in Studio X the user is given the opportunity to create their own VR world. The creativity imbued within this project is a testament to the dedication of it’s core contributors.

If you’re not within the UR community you may not be familiar with characters like the Quad Fox and Ground Bois. These are playful nicknames students have given to the wildlife you might encounter on campus, like the Red Fox and Ground Hogs! Including these UR student inside jokes provides a fun, playful, and unique experience for our patrons!

More on the Design

With Liam O’Leary’s continual development on this project, then as Studio X’s full time developer, Libby Braun 25’ and Mila P 24’ contributed to this project in their own Karp Fellowship. It was these two who envisions the club dancing room, as a personal dedication to their love of fun and playful VR experiences. Aleem Griffiths rounded out this club room by including his own original music as the records that users are tasked to collect in this room.

In addition to contributing to the design of the record covers shown in the club room in Studio Xplorer, Libby developed the overall user interface (UI). Conducting user testing with those new to the technology pain points were identified, and navigation was improved with the addition of her UI elements, like the menu. Libby became an integral member of the Studio Xplorer team, keeping in mind design principles and user experience whenever possible!

Accessibility Tools

Something important to Studio X’s values is access. In Studio Xplorer we’ve implemented a variety of features to improve this emerging tech’s accessibility.

Motion Sickness

Vignette when turning
Smooth turn or snap turn options
Turn rate

Other

Force grab available
Subtitles
Height calibration

Studio X Team Group Photo at Framless 2024 — Studio Xplorer has gone through many phases of development. One way we've been able to evaluate our design decisions is with user testing during RIT's Frameless Symposium. We've attended three times thus far and each time learn new things about improving the user experience.

Timeline

Fall 21 and Spring 22 and Fall 23

Liam O’leary began digital twin of physical space
Worked on story building, scene creation, and immersive elements

Spring 23

Status quo, Meta’s First Steps, was analyzed with 6 user testers new to VR
“How Might We...” statements used to for brainstorming session to address issues
11 user testers at RIT’s Frameless Symposium
1st and 2nd iterations of UI were developed

Spring 24

Tested with 4 new users, focusing on game pace and UI improvements with task indicators and icons.
Development slowed due to the developer’s departure, but casual play-testing continued, revealing ongoing bugs and usability issues.

Fall 2024

A new developer joined, restarting formal research with a focus on usability and playability as development nears completion. Organized additional interviews.
13 user testers at RIT’s Frameless Symposium