VR Training
The internship project is provided by Huduma Ltd in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London. In the UK, a shortage of sufficient STEM skills among adults has resulted in a skills gap in many industrial sectors. At the same time, a traditional agricultural industry in the UK is seeking to revolutionize the training methods for beekeeping and beekeeping management. This innovative project aims to use beekeeping as a learning environment to help address the challenges posed by the STEM shortage.
This project consists of three team members: a Team Leader responsible for presenting project requirements and guiding our project management, a Model Designer, and my role primarily involves Unity development. I focus on developing various interactions within the virtual environment for the Quest 2. This includes controller movement, implementing controller-based object interactions, configuring object colliders, and collaborating with team members to create and design documentation. Additionally, I am also responsible for some UI interactions and testing the program's offline functionality on the Quest 2 device.
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Overview
The primary objective of VR training is to provide users, particularly novice beekeepers, with a safe environment in which they can acquire the skills needed to perform various tasks effectively. Given the diverse range of tasks that beekeepers undertake in their daily routines, this project encompasses a multitude of design elements. To ensure a focused and manageable scope, we have chosen to center our efforts on simulating the honey harvesting process during the summer month of August.
Honey harvesting is a pivotal aspect of beekeeping, and it offers a comprehensive learning experience for novices. By focusing on this specific task, we can create a highly immersive and instructive VR training module. It allows users to gain hands-on experience in a safe and controlled environment, enhancing their understanding of the honey extraction process.
Design
We have designed a complete workflow, primarily comprising two parts: one is the VR training section, and the other is the greenhouse (showcasing various elements). Users can use controllers to navigate within the scene and interact with objects in the environment.
Technical Overview
The project primarily focuses on interactions using controllers with objects in the virtual world, such as touching, grabbing, ray-based UI interactions, and shaders. I aimed to recreate real-world interactions as closely as possible, for instance, allowing single-handed grabbing of small, lightweight objects and requiring two-handed lifting for larger, heavier objects.
grabbing objects
Using specific plugins and scripts enables users to "grab objects," and once an object is grabbed, it can trigger specific effects, such as displaying UI, hiding or revealing specific objects, and more.
Smoke Effects
Using Unity's built-in particle system to create a smoke effect, this effect is employed to simulate the smoke from a smoker, which is used to disperse bees.
To make the bees disappear, I've implemented a raycast in front of the smoker. When the raycast collides with the beehive, the bees vanish. This is used to simulate the effect of using smoke to disperse the bees.
Liquid outflow effect
To simulate the liquid honey effect, this portion consists of honey flowing out from the outlet beneath the extractor and the liquid inside the glass jar. These effects are both created using URP Shader. The difference is that the honey inside the glass jar increases over time when the cover beneath the extractor is opened.
Extractor Interaction
This project's workflow is primarily focused on the honey extraction task, combining gesture interactions, shader effects, and the use of colliders.
Various components of the beehive, including the extractor, are equipped with colliders, allowing users to freely grab objects and control the movement trajectory of these objects. For instance, the extractor's handle controls the rotation of its internal structure, and when the user touches the cover beneath the extractor, the cover opens automatically.
The rotation of the cover beneath the extractor and the shader effects within the glass jar are both controlled by scripts to achieve the animation effects.
Glass House
The glass house is designed to showcase various items in the beekeeping facility. Users can pick up objects inside to examine them, and in front of each object, there will be a description displayed. When the user puts down an object, it returns to its original position.
Reflection
First and foremost, I am deeply honored to have had the opportunity for this internship. I would like to express my gratitude to our Team Leader for their support and guidance, and also extend my thanks to our mentor, Marco, and our highly talented team member, Ning. Under Paulette's mentorship, I have gained valuable project management experience, and through collaboration with Ning, we have overcome many challenges together, ultimately completing this project.
I hope to have the chance to continue working on this project in the future, as we have only scratched the surface of the workflow, considering the daily tasks of beekeepers.