Publication: Producción de una experiencia de horror inmersivo utilizando un entorno de desarrollo de videojuegos y un visor de realidad virtual
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2015
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Abstract
En los últimos años la industria del entretenimiento digital está viviendo avances en uno de sus más estimulantes desafíos tecnológicos: la Realidad Virtual. Esta ha resurgido, no sólo como un complemento de los videojuegos actuales, sino como una revolución dispuesta a cambiar su futuro inmediato. Cada pocas semanas surgen nuevas empresas y nuevos dispositivos que compiten en la carrera por llevar al mercado la experiencia más creíble e inmersiva posible.
Atraídos por estas tendencias, nos propusimos el objetivo de desarrollar una experiencia, con las herramientas más punteras de desarrollo de videojuegos y los sistemas de realidad virtual que serán lanzados al mercado en breve, que permita explorar las posibilidades de la realidad virtual. Esto supuso afrontar un trabajo de desarrollo e investigación en el campo de los entornos virtuales, la inmersión y la experiencia de usuario.
En primer lugar se revisa el estado del arte en entornos profesionales de desarrollo de videojuegos y en dispositivos de realidad virtual, abordando concretamente abordando la cuestión de los visores estereoscópicos, sus características, ventajas e inconvenientes. También se estudian algunos referentes del género de horror, el escogido para enfocar la experiencia emocional que queremos reproducir.
En segundo lugar se definen unos objetivos y una metodología de trabajo, caracterizados por una aproximación incremental y muy experimental, aunque controlada en términos de esfuerzo, recursos y tareas, al tipo de diseño de "horror inmersivo" que hoy día están planteando algunos estudios independientes de videojuegos.
A continuación se describe el escenario en el que se produce la experiencia, una mansión de los años 30, y los personajes que participan en ella, la hija de un científico y una criatura sobrenatural. Toda la creación de recursos audiovisuales y de comportamiento, programados mediante un lenguaje de programación visual, son documentados en esta memoria.
Después la implementación se realiza mediante el entorno de desarrollo Unreal Engine 4, una herramienta completamente profesional accesible para desarrolladores independientes desde hace poco más de un año. Como visor de realidad virtual se utiliza Oculus Rift DK2, una versión todavía no accesible al público general de uno de las más prometedoras plataformas en este ámbito. Se realizan pruebas con usuarios reales para obtener realimentación en una serie de cuestiones relacionadas con la inmersión percibida, los posibles malestares físicos que frecuentemente se asocian a este tipo de experiencias, y las problemáticas más particulares de la jugabilidad de nuestra aplicación.
Finalmente los resultados de estas pruebas son analizados e ilustrados mediante tablas y gráficas, para poder discutir sobre las posibles interpretaciones de estos datos y servir como referencia a proyectos futuros que continúen en esta línea de trabajo. Como conclusiones extraemos que las experiencias de realidad virtual de gran calidad son aún técnicamente muy complejas de alcanzar, estando los efectos adversos muy relacionados con el rendimiento gráfico que somos capaces de proporcionar en tiempo real. Sin embargo el público se muestra muy receptivo a ellas y todos los detalles más sutiles en cuestión de recursos audiovisuales, usabilidad y diseño de la jugabilidad parecen claves para conseguir experiencias satisfactorias donde se minimicen los efectos adversos de este tipo de interfaces todavía tan "extraños" para el usuario tradicional.
In the last years the digital entertainment industry is living advances in one of their most stimulating technological challenges: Virtual Reality. This has reborn, not just as a mere add-on of current videogames, but as a revolution ready to change its immediate future. Every few weeks new companies and new devices appear, competing in the career for arriving in the market with the most credible and immersive experience possible. Attracted by these trends, we proposed ourselves the goal of developing an experience, with the most current tools for video game development and the virtual reality systems that will be launched to the market soon that allows the exploration of possibilities in virtual reality. This implies focus on a research and development work in the field of virtual environments, immersion and user experience. Firstly we reviews the state of the art in professional development environments for video games, and in virtual reality devices, concretely focusing on the topic of stereoscopic head-mounted displays, their features, advantages and disadvantages. We also studied some referents of the horror genre, the chosen approach for the emotional experience we want to reproduce. Secondly we defined objectives and a work methodology, characterized by an incremental and very experimental approach, although controlled in terms of effort, resources and tasks, to the type of "immersive horror" design that nowadays are presented by some independent video game studios. Next we described the scenario in which the experience is performed, a mansion from the 30's, and the characters that participate on it, a scientific daughter and a supernatural creature. All the creative process of audio-visual resources and behaviours, programmed using a visual programming tool, are documented in this document. Later on, the implementation is performed by the development environment Unreal Engine 4, a completely professional environment that is accesible to independent developers less than a year ago. As virtual reality head-mounted display, we use Oculus Rift DK2, a version which is not yet accessible to the general public of one of the most promising platforms in this field. We have realized tests with real users to get feedback on a series of questions related to the perceived immersion, the possible physical sickness that are frequently associated to this type of experiences, and the more particular issues related to our application's gameplay. Finally the results of these tests are analysed and illustrated using tables and graphics, in order to discuss the possible interpretations of this data and allowing future projects to take this as a reference for continuing this line of work. We extracted the conclusion that high quality virtual reality experiences are yet technically very complex to get, being the adverse effects so intimately related with the graphic performance achieved in real time. However the audience show themselves very receptive to these experiences and even the most subtle effects in terms of audio-visual resources, usability or game design seem key to creating satisfactory experiences where adverse effects are minimized in this kind of interfaces that are so "strange" to the traditional user yet.
In the last years the digital entertainment industry is living advances in one of their most stimulating technological challenges: Virtual Reality. This has reborn, not just as a mere add-on of current videogames, but as a revolution ready to change its immediate future. Every few weeks new companies and new devices appear, competing in the career for arriving in the market with the most credible and immersive experience possible. Attracted by these trends, we proposed ourselves the goal of developing an experience, with the most current tools for video game development and the virtual reality systems that will be launched to the market soon that allows the exploration of possibilities in virtual reality. This implies focus on a research and development work in the field of virtual environments, immersion and user experience. Firstly we reviews the state of the art in professional development environments for video games, and in virtual reality devices, concretely focusing on the topic of stereoscopic head-mounted displays, their features, advantages and disadvantages. We also studied some referents of the horror genre, the chosen approach for the emotional experience we want to reproduce. Secondly we defined objectives and a work methodology, characterized by an incremental and very experimental approach, although controlled in terms of effort, resources and tasks, to the type of "immersive horror" design that nowadays are presented by some independent video game studios. Next we described the scenario in which the experience is performed, a mansion from the 30's, and the characters that participate on it, a scientific daughter and a supernatural creature. All the creative process of audio-visual resources and behaviours, programmed using a visual programming tool, are documented in this document. Later on, the implementation is performed by the development environment Unreal Engine 4, a completely professional environment that is accesible to independent developers less than a year ago. As virtual reality head-mounted display, we use Oculus Rift DK2, a version which is not yet accessible to the general public of one of the most promising platforms in this field. We have realized tests with real users to get feedback on a series of questions related to the perceived immersion, the possible physical sickness that are frequently associated to this type of experiences, and the more particular issues related to our application's gameplay. Finally the results of these tests are analysed and illustrated using tables and graphics, in order to discuss the possible interpretations of this data and allowing future projects to take this as a reference for continuing this line of work. We extracted the conclusion that high quality virtual reality experiences are yet technically very complex to get, being the adverse effects so intimately related with the graphic performance achieved in real time. However the audience show themselves very receptive to these experiences and even the most subtle effects in terms of audio-visual resources, usability or game design seem key to creating satisfactory experiences where adverse effects are minimized in this kind of interfaces that are so "strange" to the traditional user yet.
Description
Trabajo de Fin de Grado en Ingeniería Informática (Universidad Complutense, Facultad de Informática, curso 2014/2015) / Trabajo de Fin de Grado en Ingeniería del Software (Universidad Complutense, Facultad de Informática, curso 2014/2015)