OVERVIEW
Virtual Reality PPE Museum
Beginning in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic myself and a team of programmers and 3D modelers began working on a virtual reality experience to train participants on proper Personal Protective Equipment for laboratory environments. The scope for this project was very large and used a museum like structure to tell the story of this common lab equipment, elevating these discarded objects to monumental proportions.
The museum utilizes motion capture and in various exhibits shows the right way to wear PPE and the effects of not using proper PPE during an accident.
This is the second phase of the training. After the initial training in VR and introduction is completed. The environment opens up in scale.
The scenario features several stages and ends with a test that requires the user to make an emergency exit.
SOLVING FOR THE OVER-ALL DESIGN
When coming into this project, early art direction had been set forth. However, the team seemed to be struggling with a cohesive design strategy. I was able to bring vision to these spaces that felt modern and helped to push the information to for-front.
The Final Lab Testing Area
Because of the spiral shape of the building, the final lab needed to be designed in a modular fashion to easily fit against the walls.
Locker Area
This space is used in the scenario to teach opening and closing in VR. The Triangular room was tricky to fill. The Catwalk added the impression of another level and helped to separate the ceiling.
The Pushing Buttons
This room shows various pieces of PPE in a holographic form. When the user pushes the button a video plays on the screen for each piece of PPE.
Theater Room
In this section, the user is about to complete a series of trainings on their own. A break is needed for this section to train the user further into the new parameters.
Initial Sitting Area
When the player first enters the area, this unique presentation booth and display stands were designed to give more information, and updates for future trainings.
THE PPE
The Personal Protective Equipment comes to the user in this experience through a PPE Vending Machine. It looks like a world expo coffee dispenser.
There is a requirement for the user to pick the proper PPE in a very lighthearted manner. Distracting Items were created for the user to put on if they want to.
OTHER DETAILS
There were tons of other details and small 3D objects modeled for this space. Through careful research, we realized labs are often very cluttered.
Conclusion
The work on this project was a great execution once the design direction was established. This massive space is being adapted to the Oculus Quest but was originally designed for the Vive 2 Headset. This makes set up and running this experience a premium product.
