Interactive & Visual

Wandering Woods

trophy Awarded

Wandering Woods is a three dimensional immersive natural space where users can escape and reset through a Virtual Reality Headset. Wandering Woods is based on the regenerative and cognitive restorative effects that our natural environment has on us.

Claire Murray

Final Design OUtcome

Final Rendered Design

Design Process and Gameplay

tECHNICAL Design process

1. Maya Asset Creation

Custom assets were modeled from within Autodesk Maya. A low poly style was utilised in order to maintain project scope. This style allows for uncomplicated model creation in order to allow for more simple models and a lower render time.

2. UV Editor

Maya’s UV editor was used in order to flatten each model to ready them for texturing within Substance Painter. The use of the low poly style aided this process as each model is simple, doesn’t require large amounts of smoothing and default cutting of edges could be utilised without much manipulation.

3. Final Asset Rundown

This image showcases the final UV unwrapped assets that were brought into Substance Painter to texture. All of these assets were conceptualised through an asset list that was generated when scope for the project was first realised.

4. Substance Painter Texturing

Each model was imported into Substance Painter for texturing. Custom textures with manipulation in roughness, metallic and base colour were generated for each type of asset. These simple textures follow the low poly style with their bright and saturated properties. The manipulation of roughness, metallic and base colour allowed for distinguishable features for each part of the model, this would be noticeable once the final scene lighting was rendered.

5. Unreal Engine Asset Placement

Once textured, each model was imported into Unreal Engine 4 with their corresponding texturing files. Models were repeated in order to fill the environment, but manipulation of scale, rotation and position were used so that a randomised, varied and interesting environment was created. By repeating models, workload was lowered and scope was maintained.

6. Lighting Design

To create depth within the environment, atmospheric fog was used. This isolated the user within the environment and hid the edge of the environment from view. Spotlights as well as the atmosphere light created highlights throughout the environment.

7. Particle Emission

Niagara Particle Emission allowed for another moving component within the environment. Small green glowing spheres were used within the particle emitter that was then manipulated to populate the environment.

8. Using the Virtual Reality Headset in Unreal Engine

In order to allow for communication from Unreal Engine 4 and the Oculus Rift S headset, the event manager was set up. This allowed for control of the teleportation of the user within the environment. The process that was used in order to set up teleportation within the environment was extensive and had many failures within execution. To allow for teleportation, the left controller’s joystick connected to the headset had to be pressed when the user’s headset was positioned and the blue circle was sitting within the world at the location that the user wished to teleport to. The parameters for this were set up within the environment and handled through the Event Manager in Unreal Engine.

Promotional Deliveries

Poster Display Delivery

Flyer Delivery

Claire Murray

Claire is an aspiring interaction and visual designer with an affinity for three-dimensional design and innovation. This passionate young professional has worked to gain a wide range of skills within design for a variety of visual and interactive design outcomes.