Designed for UW Fourth Year Design Project
Developed a simplified VR controller for elderly users to reduce strain of VR sessions. Owned iterative design and testing of the physical user interface.
The fourth year design project was completed in a team of 3 under the supervision of university professors during my final year of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo.
Conducted research to understand the problem space. Use of a standard Oculus Quest controller requires fine motor control and comprehension abilities that many older adults lack, preventing them from accessing basic VR experiences.
Key pain points included lack of precision when moving Oculus thumbsticks and user strain when triggering squeeze buttons. Elderly users also demonstrated confusion when facing the many input options on the Oculus controller.
Minimizing the available inputs to one movement joystick, one interaction button and two turning buttons reduced user confusion while maintaining necessary functionality for basic seated VR experiences.
Anthropometrics and optimal force metrics were identified for target users and used to guide design choices. I conducted a series of in-person user tests to gather feedback on three iterations of 3D printed prototypes. A 30 page paper was written to detail the discoveries identified throughout the process and the functional high-fidelity prototype was presented to a panel of university professors.
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