The Island VR

In 2018 the WorldHaptics conference published a call to action on their websites: universities were asked to design a VR project that would increment the way haptics is perceived in immersive environments, and given that VR and haptics were the two major areas of expertise of our department, we decided to take up the fight and sent a proposal.

A virtual environment resembling a maze made of green hedges. The ground appears sandy, and the clear blue sky indicates it is daytime. The hedges are tall and create pathways forming a maze, with some trees visible above the hedges in the background.

The qualification round required each team to deliver a 3 pages pitch on what our idea was, and why we thought it would make a difference. The pitch we wrote focused on how haptics is marketed and why it currently does not sell as well as other devices such as VR. We argued that haptic devices are often marketed as “single-purpose”, with sentences like “with our device, you can do this thing”, preventing the audience from creating a mental image of how the same object could be used in different contexts. Our plan was to develop a VR application with multiple levels, presenting it in a different way to each participant, and trying to see if marketing the device as “multi-purpose” would increase customers’ interest in buying the product.

Beginning of a dark path inside a cave. No light for most of it, just a few lights to indicate the end of it.

To prove our hypothesis, we built a VR game called “The Island”, which featured 5 different scenarios, each using the haptic device in a different way. Both before and during the conference, people were randomly assigned either to play the same level 3 times, or 3 different levels once (a level lasted around 3 to 5 minutes). From the questionnaire that players filled after the experience, we evidenced that by playing different scenarios without enforcing a view on them, the audience was more keener on knowing more about the device and potential uses in their professional fields.

Fast forward to the finals, and in July 2019 we presented our work at the WorldHaptics conference in Tokyo, Japan, and proved that indeed it is possible to increase customers’ interest in haptic devices by not enforcing a pre-defined view on them. Despite the strong competition, the committee loved our game and awarded us with the first prize!

An award certificate from the IEEE World Haptics Conference 2019, held in Tokyo, Japan, from July 9 to 12. The certificate is for the 'Best SIC-VR Content Award' and is awarded to 'The Island' - a multi-experience game featuring an exoskeleton-based controller. The recipients of the award are Riccardo Galdieri, Camilla Tanca, Cristian Camardella, and Michele Barsotti. The award is sponsored by exiii and signed by Hiroyuki Kajimoto, General Co-Chair.

Developing this game has been one of the funniest things I did during my studies, I worked with people who were extremely talented and we had the freedom to create something unique with a very peculiar device.