dream-homeland

Immersive Narrative Experience + Virtual Reality

Interactive 3D Virtual Environment made of Memories, Dreams, and Original Moving Images, Created in Unity

2019

I. CONCEPT

Construction Statement

I narrate a personal story about my imaginary self and friends in my fantastical home, which is made from memories and dreams. This virtual environment transgresses and challenges the conventional norms of a home by reimagining the physical space in terms of feelings, with an emphasis on personal importance and abnormal physicality.

Interaction Mandate

The purpose of this project is to communicate a personal perspective on home by creating my emotional home. My other self and friends within the virtual space are granted transhuman abilities such as flying or complete honesty that would otherwise be unavailable in the “real” world in order to disrupt the tiring limitations of human physicality and the superficiality of educated societal facades. Additionally, the spatial aspects and the interactions contribute to the narrative in the way they invoke curiosity and confusion in order to have a memorable impact on the participant.

II. PROCESS

Priorities

1. Making it a unique creation
2. Making it fun for participants
3. Making it personally meaningful
4. Making it universally interesting

Prototype

III. USABILITY

User Scenario

Users start the experience underwater, being dropped on a giant bed inserted into the ground. Right at the starting point of the journey is an analogue television with broken statics. The bed is surrounded by floating or buried electronic objects such as a minified satellite and analogue televisions. Users are able to walk towards any direction of their choice using direction keys on the keyboard, away from the bed towards the rest of the landscape. With the sound of footsteps, users walk on the rocky ground that is partially submerged and partially above the body of ocean. When users walk above water, they encounter a surreal cityscape that is slanting against the normal laws of physics. The cityscape and landscape contain interactive videos imbedded in certain objects. Original, experimental videos are projected on a few objects, such as a giant wall of a building, some of the analogue television screens, space inbetween large rocks, and play on loop with sound when users stand close to them. Users walk around in the solemn, surreal environment, as they seek and encounter hidden moving pictures waiting for them to find and play.

Positive Feedback

1. The overall graphic style is aesthetically cohesive and true to the narrative.
2. The underwater design and surreal cityscape together create fantastical feelings successfully.

Negative Feedback

1. There is not a clear direction for movements.
2. The simultaneous operations of mouse and keyboard tools are confusing.

IV. PRODUCT

Experience

Demo Stills

V. REFLECTION

#Transgression
#Reintegration

Home is an emotional space. Despite its conventional meaning as a physical space from which people are, home in a physical sense rarely provides the comfort and tranquility apart from the accompanying discomfort and drama. Home is when one feels at home, and the feeling at home is within oneself. I imagined my fantastical home that is within my emotional landscape. This home involves some of my dreams, which only exist within my subconscious but with significant presence. dream-homeland is a visual manifestation of (the dreams and fantasies within the realm of home).

However, what if the meaning of home is already tainted? What if one feels at home in a space with discomfort and drama? What if humans are destined to homes that are never easy for them? What if our dream-homelands are always meant to resemble nightmares rather than joyful dreams? dream-homeland is a space that acknowledges shadows along with the excitement of home.