VR Concept Development Through Design Thinking
After learning the fundamentals of Unity, students were challenged to develop a virtual reality (VR) project. Coming up with an idea can be tough, so the first step was to decide what they wanted to create.
Their focus was somewhat predetermined—the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)—but they had to choose which ones to focus on and how to implement interactivity and functionality.
The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
🟥Brainstorming & Affinity Mapping
Students began by exploring ideas in a mind mapping exercise, considering:
Things they would miss
Things they want to learn
Elements of their community and the world
What they want to change or keep the same
Key elements for the experience
They then organized these ideas into affinity maps to find common themes.
🟪 Dot Voting: Narrowing Down the Focus
Each student placed sticky notes as votes to choose which UN SDG(s) resonated most with them. They could pull from their mind maps for inspiration.
✦ Key Outcome: This helped them decide on a meaningful direction for their VR project.
Using dot voting to further narrow the focus (sticky notes acted as dots).
🟦 Crafting a Problem Statement
After brainstorming and voting, students formulated their problem statement, which included:
The problem itself – stated clearly
The method of solving the problem
The purpose or objective
✮ Many people are unaware of the impact of ocean pollution and the UN SDGs. We will create an interactive VR experience to educate the community.
Problem statement under development.
🟧 Experience Landscape: Research & Inspiration
Students analyzed gaming and VR experiences, highlighting:
Elements they liked
Features they disliked
Aspects they would improve upon
This helped refine their own project vision.
Students analyze a variety of interactive experiences to develop project and implementation ideas.
🟩 Finalizing the VR Concept
Students returned to brainstorming, dot voting, and affinity mapping—this time focusing on:
Prototyping
Audio & sound design
Level design & storytelling
3D assets, textures, & lighting
User interactions & animations
✦ Key Outcome: A clear, structured concept for their VR project.
Level design scavenger hunt idea.
🟨 Development Teams & Iteration
Students split into dynamic teams based on:
Skills & abilities
Interests
Roles (which evolved as the project progressed)
Throughout the process, they developed, debugged, and refined their work.
Final Project: Welcome to the Boardwalk
The students’ VR project educated the community about a few of the UN SDGs, with a focus on ocean pollution, a cause close to their hearts as they live in a beach community.
📌This project combined technology, creativity, and real-world impact!
🔗Learn more about the project here: Welcome to the Boardwalk
Interested in VR learning?
Dream Steam Labs specializes in immersive technology and experiential learning. If you’re interested in creating VR experiences like this, let’s connect!
🔗Check out more projects here!
