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1. © 2019 Autodesk
John Schrag
Director of Experience Design
Entertainment Creation Products
Autodesk
UX Strat 2019
VR: What is it good for?

2. John Schrag
Director of Experience Design
at Autodesk
Based in Toronto, Canada
Dabbles in VR Strategy
Also, wrestles tiny alligators

3. Virtual Reality is a set of
interface technologies
designed to make the user feel
“present” in a new environment
or experience, rather than
feeling like an outside
observer.
What is Virtual Reality?

4. So what?

5. Du bör inte VR på problemet
- Ancient Swedish Proverb

6. o VR engages the brain in a deeper way than “regular”
computer screen/mouse/gamepad interaction does.
Here’s the “so what”

7. 04 / 20
https://youtu.be/WETwwKbleks

8. Image: Wikimedia Commons, from Ranveig Thattai
The hippocampus

9. From "Intracellular dynamics of hippocampal place cells during virtual navigation." By Christopher D. Harvey, Forrest Collman, Daniel A. Dombeck & David W. Tank. Nature, Vol. 461
No. 7266, October 14, 2009.

10. § VR engages the brain in a deeper way than computer screen
interaction does.
§ Your brain encodes VR experiences as “I was there”, not “I
saw that”
The Brain Science behind VR

11. § VR engages the brain in a deeper way than computer screen
interaction does.
§ Your brain encodes VR experiences as “I was there”, not “I
saw that”
§ It’s hard to understand until you try it yourself.
The Brain Science behind VR

12. § Immersion
§ Interaction
§ Consistency of action / perception
§ Emotional engagement
§ Belief
*
What makes you feel “present” in VR?
The Five Pillars of Presence – Patrice Bouvier – Presence 2008 Conference, Padova, Italy

13. Immersion vs Cost Tradeoff
Less
immersive
More
immersive

14. © 2019 Autodesk
What is the business value of immersion?

15. § Better understanding of 3d spaces and forms
VR Gives You

16. § Better understanding of 3d spaces and forms
§ Predictive emotional responses to experiences
VR Gives You

17. § Better understanding of 3d spaces and forms
§ Predictive emotional responses to experiences
§ Higher levels of engagement
VR Gives You

18. § Better understanding of 3d spaces and forms
§ Predictive emotional responses to experiences
§ Higher levels of engagement
§ More effective and memorable training
VR Gives You

19. § Better understanding of 3d spaces and forms
§ Predictive emotional responses to experiences
§ Higher levels of engagement
§ More effective and memorable training
§ Greater emotional connection to products & services
VR Gives You

20. § Better understanding of 3d spaces and forms
§ Predictive emotional responses to experiences
§ Higher levels of engagement
§ More effective and memorable training
§ Greater emotional connection to products & services
VR Gives You

21. Frame from “My Moby Dick”, filmed by Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton

22. better decisions

23. VR for Architecture
§ Helps architects detect design
problems early
§ Helps their clients really
understand what is being built
§ Communicates the “feeling of
being there”
Autodesk Revit Live

24. VR for Psychotherapy
§ Phobia treatment
§ PTSD treatment
§ Can increase empathy, with
long-lasting effect
§ Bad-habit breaking
§ Autism support
§ Depression treatment
§ Body dysmorphia treatment
Image from Floreotech.com of their VR headset and software for treating autism

25. VR for Product Design / Manufacturing
§ Reduce need for physical
prototypes
§ Facilitate collaboration and
critique
§ Onboarding for work in
dangerous spaces
§ Pre-build simulation of factory
spaces
§ Safety training
Autodesk VRED, image by Ford Motor Co.

26. VR for Medicine
§ Protein visualization and
manipulation
§ Surgical visualization
§ Reality simulation for neural
input
§ Post-surgical rehabilitation
§ Help patients feel at home
§ Post stroke recovery
Image by MedicalFuturist.com

27. but…

28. Because users feel present in VR, they become vulnerable
both emotionally and physically.
Health and Safety Concerns

29. Because users feel present in VR, they become vulnerable
both emotionally and physically.
Bad VR interface design can literally make someone sick,
frighten them, or make them psychologically uncomfortable.
Health and Safety Concerns

30. “Cyber-sickness”
Happens when your eyes and
your inner ear (vestibular
system) give you conflicting
signals.
Caused by bad navigation design.

31. Acrophobia or other frights
People can be frightened by
heights, edges, or common
phobias like snakes.

32. Embodiment dysmorphia
Carelessness in how you
embody your user can lead
to psychological discomfort.
Photo from Cornell Virtual Embodiment Lab

33. Scaling issues
People can be
frightened or
disturbed by
things that might
look “cute” on a
regular screen
From the videogame “Lucky’s Tale”

34. TMI
Sudden scene changes can be
disturbing, overwhelming the
user with information
Image by John Greyson– Wikimedia commons

35. Environmental Blindness
Users are blind to the outside
world while in VR, and may
collide with walls, chairs, or just
feel vulnerable.

36. Virtual Harassment
Multiplayer anonymity can
enable harassing behaviours
Mic.com, Toronto Metro, The Guardian.com

37. § There are design solutions to address these problems
Good news

38. § There are design solutions to address these problems
…that I can’t share in 10 minutes
Good news

39. § VR UX is still immature – generally accepted standard
solutions are slowly emerging
Bad news

40. § VR UX is still immature – generally accepted standard
solutions are slowly emerging
§ Hard to find skilled designers
Bad news

41. § VR UX is still immature – generally accepted standard
solutions are slowly emerging
§ Hard to find skilled designers
§ Lots of examples that look really cool but are actually terrible
Bad news

42. § VR UX is still immature – generally accepted standard
solutions are slowly emerging
§ Hard to find skilled designers
§ Lots of examples that look really cool but are actually terrible
§ VR sucks at some things
Bad news

43. § Precision input
VR sucks at some things

44. § Precision input
§ Text input
VR sucks at some things

45. § Precision input
§ Text input
§ Isometric or diagrammatic views
VR sucks at some things

46. I just stole this slide from Olga
Is there
demand?
Can we
build it?
Is it worth
it?

47. The usual evaluation for VR projects
Is it cool?
Can we
build it?

48. My recommendations
Does it
provide
real user
value?
Can we
build, buy,
or partner
to make
it?
Is it worth
it?

49. build,
buy,
or partner?

50. NVidia Holodeck

51. thanks

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