VR-Maze-Gallery — Chatrin Samanchuen

VR Maze Gallery

This VR Maze Gallery project was created for the Computer Art Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) and showcased during our Fall 2024 Open Studio. It was developed as part of our Production Issues class. At the beginning of the course, we worked on a 26-day “letter assignment,” designing letters from A to Z in Cinema 4D as practice. Once completed, we integrated our work into a maze gallery to showcase the results.

Experience Walk Through and Viewport Breakdown. Music by AleXZavesa from Pixabay

I served as the lead for VR creation and logic development, with responsibilities that included scene lighting, optimization, and ensuring a smooth and engaging player experience. The maze begins in a large circular room where players explore environments inspired by New York City. Each room features hidden mini-games and iconic landmarks transformed into immersive experiences.

In Room A, for instance, the Statue of Liberty was reimagined as a wireframe model with particle emitters, creating a meditative and visually dynamic environment. Players could freely explore the scene before being teleported back to the main room. In Room B, I designed another immersive experience: a wireframe New York City flythrough with height-based emission effects. Players were guided along a rail with smooth animations to avoid motion sickness while delivering a calming, visually engaging experience.

Overall Experience Planning

To ensure seamless navigation, I developed a teleportation system using a “previous level” variable. This system tracked the player’s last position and used invisible null boxes as markers to return them to the correct location in the main room upon exiting an activity room. For example, when a player entered Room A, the variable updated, and exiting triggered a teleportation system that placed them accurately in the maze.

Scene optimization was another crucial part of my role. Although Unreal Engine supports advanced real-time rendering, mismatched shadows in the VR viewport between the right and left eyes presented challenges. I addressed this by implementing fully baked lighting, which resolved the shadow issues and provided smoother performance at 120 frames per second. I also minimized light intersections to ensure high-quality baked lighting, delivering the best possible experience for players.

This project was an exciting challenge, combining creative design and technical problem-solving to create an optimized, immersive VR experience that celebrated the vibrancy of New York City and the collaborative efforts of our team.

Null Box Placement Room A

Null Box Placement Room B

Null Box Placement Room C

Contribution
Responsible for All Aspects Except 3D Assets
Special Thanks to
SVA Fall 2024 Production Issue 1 Teammate for Assets Modeling

Chatrinsamanchuen@gmail.com
New York City, NY