Experience Type: VR Training
Role: Author, Lead XR Designer and Production Artist
Platform: Mobile VR
Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Additional Tools: Blender 2.8, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, Substance Painter, Mixamo
Shell Industries requested the development and deployment of an interactive VR experience to train employees in LNG plants on the various protocols to follow during the event of a gas leak on site. The simulation was successfully built in late 2019 and was deployed on the Oculus Quest 1.
My contributions to the simulation's development included User Experience Design, User Interface Design, 3D Environment Design and Production and Production Management.
IDEATION
“Conceptualizing & designing a engaging experience that effectively conveys the mitigation procedures.”
The focal points of the concept design phase were effective delivery of information through interaction and balancing aesthetics with function by being frugal with resources. As the prototype was to be built on a relatively unknown and untested platform, it was crucial to filter redundant elements, leaving only what would drive the functionality of the application.
Above: References of LNG Plants and a Control Room.
One of the parameters for success as a training module was the faithfulness to the specific design and aesthetics of the machinery on site. Research on the functioning and specifics of LNG plants were conducted with approval of the final design made by the client.
Above: Environment mockups created using Sketchup.
Tools such as Sketchup and Blender were used to prototype the layout of the scene, adding clarity to the approach.
PRODUCTION
“Building an experience for Mobile VR required being frugal with assets.”
Once the concept design and treatment was approved, production of the experience began with the modeling of the virtual environment in Blender.
Developing an interactive VR experience for mobile headsets required the enforcement of strict protocols with respect to the quantity of 2D & 3D assets as well as their complexity. To secure performance during runtime, the virtual scene was consolidated to feature only the essentials of the space, significantly reducing the draw call count to permissible levels, securing room for the use of complex materials to support data visualization.
Above: Final environment in UE4. Significant reduction in meshes had to be made to ensure smooth performance on Mobile VR.
Concerning mesh complexity, the total number of polygons per seen was set to not exceed the limit of 100,000. With more render intensive shaders such as those requiring translucency, modifications to parameters such as the Blend Mode were made to reduce their load on the GPU, effectively cutting render time.
Above: Rigged models were used to create NPCs of the plant employees. Animations sequences were created using Mixamo.
FINAL THOUGHTS
2019 saw the release of the Oculus Quest resulting in an increased demand in high-quality untethered VR experiences. The Fire Response Training Simulation for Shell was among many projects that elevated my skills as a Production Artist for XR, enhancing my ability to balance aesthetics with high performance.