BIOME
Overview
Biome is a virtual reality experience to spread awareness about habitat degradation by letting users experience each habitat affected.
My Roles
Design Research | Copy | Product Video | Informational Signage
Team
Mallory Blackwell
Design Research Lead | Brand Development
Isa Armstrong
Design Research | Immersive Experience | 3D Environment
Maria Rodriguez
Design Research | VR
Olivia Cowley
Design Research | Microsite
Mission
Biome uses VR technology and immersive interactions to create engaging, exciting and cutting edge experiences with the goal of educating and inspiring our users. By focusing our exhibits on critical issues such as habitat loss, extinction, and climate change, we can spread awareness and begin to affect change on a broader level.
Biome uses VR technology and immersive interactions to create engaging, exciting and cutting edge experiences with the goal of educating and inspiring our users. By focusing our exhibits on critical issues such as habitat loss, extinction, and climate change, we can spread awareness and begin to affect change on a broader level.
Unique Selling Proposition
Biome is the only virtual reality-centered exhibition that travels to people in cities across the US to raise awareness about habitat fragmentation in an era where humanity’s affect on our planet is crucial to its fate.
Biome is the only virtual reality-centered exhibition that travels to people in cities across the US to raise awareness about habitat fragmentation in an era where humanity’s affect on our planet is crucial to its fate.
Definitions
Habitat Fragmentation
the division of a once-existing habitat that continually affects biodiversity and nature. Wildlife worldwide is constantly affected by this, and species gradually become extinct due to the increasing population of humans and overdevelopment.
John Wiley, Habitat fragmentation and species diversity in competitive communities, December 2019
John Wiley, Habitat fragmentation and species diversity in competitive communities, December 2019
Natural Causes of Habitat Fragmentation
Volcanoes
Wild Fires
Climate Change
Human Causes of Habitat Fragmentation
Urbanization
Logging
Construction of Roads and Highways
Housing Developments
The National Wildlife Federation, Habitat Loss, 2019
Science Direct, Habitat Fragmentation, up to 2020
InvterviewIn order to gain perspective on this problem, we interviewed a local organization: the San Marcos River Foundation. All answers here are specific to the San Marcos River, but we used their knowledge of habitat loss on the local scale to inspire our large scale endeavor.
Who
Most people do not think about [habitat loss]—until you realize you are going to lose something.
Allow [them] to experience the beautiful natural spaces in the recharge areas; go to the river!
Allow [them] to experience the beautiful natural spaces in the recharge areas; go to the river!
Co-Existence
If you create a healthy and resilient habitat and resident or homeowners use best management practices, you create a healthier environment for yourself and many species.
Spread the Word
Educate young people, educate local residents, educate your elected officials at the city and county level. Help them understand the fragile ecosystem of the river and the need to protect it which will require investment and forward thinking.
How might we...
Pain Points
Confusion
Approach
Invisible Impact
Feature Prioritization
Must Have:
- Interactive elements to engage the user
- Available information about each biome before the VR pod
- Interactive/clickable information within the individual VR videos
Could Have:
- VR pods with seating and video setup so multiple people can interact at the same time
- Floor graphics that continue the immersive experience
- A tactile experience to further interact with each biome
Should Have:
- Popup locations across the US in big cities
- user-friendly wayfinding that doesn’t distract from the immersive elements
- Recycled/re-used materials and merchandise
Won’t Have:
- Aggressive “scare tactics” to invoke action in the user
- Wasteful materials and merchandise
User Journey
Immersive Receiving Room
Users enter in the immersive receiving room where floor-to-ceiling screens will play video of the biome as if the user is actually immersed in the biome.
Interactive Infographics
While the user waits for their time in the virtual reality, they can learn more about the biomes and how they can help by interacting with the infographic screens outside each Biome Pod.
Virtual Reality Biome Pods
This is the finale of the exhibition: interating with the biome through virtual reality. The user puts on the VR headset and interacts with the biome via clickable info points within the VR. This will give the user more examples of fragmentation and ways the user can help.Opportunity Statement
Biome presents the first interactive exhibition to spread awareness about habitat fragmentation. Through virtual reality and the immersive experience, Biome makes information about habitat fragmentation, extinction, and climate change accessible and exciting.
Brand
The Exhibition
Aerial Layout
The exhibtion needed to highlight the immersive qualities that we want everyone to be able to experience. To do this, we created a layout that could house an immersive recieving room, as well as 5 VR pods.Features:
- Large immersive experience room
-
3 surrounding screeens
- Open concept to allow for a easy flow of traffic
- 5 Biome Pods where the VR interaction takes place
Prototype Layout
Features:- 5 Biome Pods, one for each biome that will be showcased: Rainforest, Marine, Tundra, Savannah, and Coniferous Forest
- Surrounding screens playing immersive video of any of the 5 biomes
- Interactive informational panels outside each Biome Pod
Immersive Receiving Room
Large screens will have a looping video of different biomes to create an immersive envrionment where people will wait for their assigned Biome Pod.
Outside each Biome Pod will be an infographic about that biome. This will help educate those that are waiting in line for the VR experience, as well as excite them for what they are about to see!
Campaign
Be One.
The Be One campaign comes from the mission of Biome: to allow users to become one with the biomes that are suffering from habitat fragmentation, extinction, and climate change.
The campaign includes:
The campaign includes:
- branded merchandise made from recycled/re-usable materials
- branded posters to be displayed in the city streets before and during the time the exhibition resides in that city
Website
What I learned
This project brief encouraged future-oriented design systems which is how we came up with a virtual reality experience. The initial obstacle was, of course, narrowing down our research to be informative without being aggressive or overwhelming. Once we found out what to cover and how to explain ourselves, we needed to tackle how we would display our concepts. We used Artsteps for the exhibition and created the videos in After Effects, but it was challenging to source content and make it look convincing.
With more time and resources, I would create more environmental graphics for the exhibition, such as branded wayfinding and signage, to build out a more cohesive system. The VR could be explored more thoroughly to gauge if people would rather experience a deeper, more personal point of view (such as seeing their direct affect on each environment or even experiencing fragmentation from the inhabitants’ point of view).
With more time and resources, I would create more environmental graphics for the exhibition, such as branded wayfinding and signage, to build out a more cohesive system. The VR could be explored more thoroughly to gauge if people would rather experience a deeper, more personal point of view (such as seeing their direct affect on each environment or even experiencing fragmentation from the inhabitants’ point of view).
