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INDUSTRY & TECHNOLOGY
Are Today’s Escape Rooms “Virtually” the Same as Before? Carmen Van Ommen Graduate Researcher Carmen is a student in the Research in User eXperience (RUX) Lab in the Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology. RUX investigates the usability and user experience of technology in our everyday world. This is a regular column that explores different technologies typically used by Embry-Riddle students. Once upon a time, long long ago, a group of friends could meet together in one room. Their goal? To escape before their time ran out. There were dozens of locks, hidden keys, and riddles designed to frustrate you to no end. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has put a damper on in-person activities, and businesses have had to pivot to ensure that their services abide by social distancing guidelines. Since part of
the fun of doing an escape room is to actively collaborate with your friends and scour a room for clues to solve puzzles, what does this experience look like in a virtual setting? Overview As part of a department bonding activity, we chose to do a virtual escape room. Our story was set in an art museum. It was suspected that the museum curator had stolen a famous and expensive painting, and it was up to us to break into his office, steal back the painting, and escape without being caught. Our group of six met on Zoom, and we were provided with a link to a website where we could see a 360° view of the room we were in (similar to street view on Google Maps) and had a dashboard of clues. The Importance of a Field Agent
Photo Courtesy/Barbara Chaparro
The group was shown videos to set the stage for the heist.
Photo Courtesy/Barbara Chaparro
The gallery referred to in the art heist escape room. Viewing images from the location in question was essential to the success of the game.
One of the biggest differences in a virtual escape room is the fact that you cannot physically be in the room. One workaround to this was to provide our group with a "field agent," who could be our eyes and hands. This person was equipped with a camera that gave us a view of what she was seeing, and a microphone and earbuds in which to hear and communicate with us. A challenge with this is that it limited our field of view to only what the field agent was looking at, and we could not physically manipulate the objects. Additionally, our entire group was looking at one screen instead of being able to explore independently. Having a restricted field of view meant that we could sometimes miss essential objects in the room. Our group solved a puzzle and found a key, but we weren't sure where the lock was, so we held onto it for a while. After work-
ing on another clue, the field agent moved her camera over the desk, and we suddenly saw a keyhole that our previous key would fit into. If we had been physically present in the room, it is unlikely we would have missed this lock for so long. Not being able to explore the room also limited us to solving the puzzles in a more linear and focused fashion. One of our clues opened a small door in the wall, through which we could see the museum curator's office. While it was too small for someone to fit through, I couldn't help but think back to my times of doing an escape room in person and how likely it was that someone in the group probably would have been trying very hard to contort themselves to fit through that hole while the rest of the group looked for other clues! Individual differences and strategies for looking around the room are also what can make your group successful. >>Continued on page 9