Design-led Research Report

DREAMS GROW HERE IN METAVERSE.

Document prepared by Zainab Calcuttawala 103184664

Published By Swinburne University of Technology School of Design, 2023

Printed in Melbourne

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.

The research report suggests how Anglicare Victoria can launch their organization into the metaverse. The metaverse experience will enable collaborative experiences and encorage creativity among the users.

The metaverse environment aims to create a safe space for children and young adults. The space will help to foster positive well-being and will aim to be accessible and equitable for everyone. For the users to start

their metaverse jourmey they will need to pick an artefact based on the emotion they are dealing with currently. The artefact is a magic pencil and represents six emotions; joy, sad, disgust, love, fear, and angry. The purpose of the artefact is to provide a personalised experience to each user of the metaverse and help them improve their quality of life.

PROFILE .

Hey there! I am Zainab. My background is digital art & animation. I am currently in my third semester of my Master of Design degree. My software skills include Indesign, Illustrator, After Effects, and Procreate. I love creating illustrations and enjoy using Procreate. I decided to further explore my passion for design after completing an internship as a design intern. I’d like to think of myself as an avid learner and possible discoverer of creativity and design.

image source: adobe stock

INTRODUCTION .

Anglicare Victoria is a non-profit organization that helps protect and empower children, young adults, and families since the past 25 years. They address social, emotional, and physical well-being of their members through various services like foster care and residential care. The purpose to launch Anglicare Victoria into the metaverse is to create an enducational platform that embraces the three themes of freedom, growth, and inclusivity.

These three themes aim to create interactive, collaborative, and inclusive experiences for the users in the metaverse.

Anglicare Victoria’s target audience will be children and young adults below the age of 21. The main objective of entering the metaverse will be to create a positive change and improve the quality of life of the target audience.

“Make the little things big”

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY.

To maintain frequent communication and identify users requirements

social media, website, contest and challenges

To create digital platform that provide services to reengage Anglicare Victoria’s users with education institutions.

by providing an educational and inclusive experience in the Metaverse

To create memorable experience and enhance excitement and learning experience

gamification, fun-play learning

To promote metaverse as educational platform that allow collaborations among users to encourage creativity.

To create safe platform that encourage and empower children and young people

exhibitions, virtual events

DESIGN OUTCOMES.

SPATIAL DESIGN

DESIGN PROJECT 1.

Design project one focuses on the launch poster of Anglicare Victoria into the metaverse. The design brief was to design a poster to announce the launch of Anglicare Victoria into the metaverse. The launch poster had to connect with the brand identity and the key themes of the brand that had been identified. The three themes are; growth, freedom and inclusivity. As Anglicare aims to empower children and families and most of their programs revolve around well-being

and an inclusive environment these themes were the focus area in the metaverse.

The objective of the launch poster was create to excitement for the target audience and give a sense into what the metaverse experience would be like for them. The launch poster aims to create curiosity among the target audience.

LAUNCH POSTER: DESIGN BRIEF and STATEMENT

OVERALL RESEARCH and STRATEGY

The research was conducted by analyisng data from Anglicare Victoria’s website and Instagram page. Most of their posts had clear and legible fonts, direct messages and pictures representing diversity, growth, and inclusivity. Their brand values were clearly depicted through their imagery. Anglicare made use of their brand colours in quite a lot of their campaign posters and was seen clearly on their website as well.

Keeping in mind these key points the objective of our teams launch poster was to convey growth, freedom, and represent the brand values in a creative and futuristic way to align with the metaverse universe.

image source: instagram.com/anglicarevictoria

a non-profit organization that aims to improve people’s quality of life through education and innovation

How might we engage Anglicare Victoria’s target audience to the Metaverse to create positive change and improve their quality of life?

FINDINGS

According to my teams findings we discovered that to engage the target audience and make them curious about the metaverse experience it was important to depict futuristic elements but also align it with the brand values and the themes identified as well. Ideas were generated through Midjourney, an AI platform by using key words like; children, freedom, growth, diversity, futuristic, colourful. The images acted as a source of inspiration for the launch poster as we

could visualise the blend of different themes that would create curiosity and excitement amongst the target audience.

ANALYSIS INSIGHTS

The images were generated through Midjourney and depicted elements like futuristic style, bright and bold colours, books, interactive, and digital spaces. The themes that had to be represented in the launch poster were growth, freedom, and inclusivity. Analysing the various elements depicted in the images generated through AI helped my team understand which elements were necessary to be represented in the poster for the launch into metaverse.

The images generated were quite helpful for the design process of project one. However, most of the posters gave a very futuristic vibe even though it consisted of other elements relevant to the themes. As the posters had a futuristic feel my team had to decide how to incorporate the themes without eleminating the futuristic element of the metaverse as it is an integral part of the design project.

RESEARCH OUTCOMES

The research outcomes were different posters generated through Midjourney in different styles. The images were generated relating to the themes of education, children, futuristic style, classroom learning, and an interactive experience. Each version of the poster consisted of the different elements that my team was looking for and we managed to take inspiration and create our launch poster accordingly for the target audience.

image source: Midjourney

RESEARCH OUTCOME - MIDJOURNEY

DESIGN PROCESS

After analysing the research outcomes my team came up with several design options. We tried to incorporate a futuristic element in the first few versions of the poster by showing a person envisioning the metaverse experience of Anglicare Victoria. The lense depicted visuals that tried to convey the themes of growth, freedom, and inclusivity. But somehow it lacked a personal touch about the brands mission in the metaverse.

The second version of the launch poster was more informative about the metaverse experience and had several elements that aligned with the brand values. But as the poster had a lot of information it would not manage to create curiosity or excitement amongst the user. The motive of the launch poster was to just provide the target audience with a glimpse of the metaverse experience and encourage them to be a part of the experience.

POSTER VERSION 2

DESIGN EVALUATION

After the development of various posters in the design process stage my team gained feedback that helped in creating a launch poster for Anglicare Victoria. The feedback consisted of similar comments about how the posters seemed a little too informative, lacked some futuristic elements, and how the poster appeared to be more educational rather than playful and engaging. Keeping these comments in mind my team came up with a few more

versions that would align with our goals of launching Anglicare Victoria into the metaverse. We tried to make the poster visually more futuristic to align with the metaverse experience and gave an educational touch to it by showcasing a book to focus of the themes of growth and freedom. The posters developed further seemed to create a sense of curiosity and were more appropriate and appealing for the target audience.

POSTER VERSION 3 - EVALUATION

FINAL DESIGN OUTCOMES

After incorporating the elements of education, growth, and freedom in the metaverse into our poster my team wanted to give the target audience a sneak peak of Anglicare Victoria’s metaverse world as well. Hence, we decided to include that as a final touch into the launch poster. The poster aligned with the brands identity and did justice to the themes identified; growth, freedom, and inclusivity in the metaverse. The tagline was clear and bold “Dreams

Grow Here”. As books are the most powerful source of information my team felt it was significant and had to be included in the poster to align with the topic of education. The launch poster was the first step of the design project and was completed by depicting the three themes in the poster successfully.

LAUNCH POSTER

DESIGN PROJECT 2.

ARTEFACT: DESIGN BRIEF and STATEMENT

The design brief for project two was to design a digital artefact with which the users could engage with in the metaverse. After research and design development stages the magic pencil was chosen as the artefact for Anglicare Victoria in the metaverse. The magic pencil will help the audience engage, communicate, and get in touch with their feelings in the metaverse. The pencil will help the audience to express their emotions without being vocal about it.

Six emotions will be represented; joy, sad, disgust, love, fear, and anger. As everyone might not be comfortable expressing their feelings there will be a default pencil as well that will act as a neutral option. By introducing the magic pencil Anglicare can establish a safe space within the metaverse for all its users. Foster children and young adults require assurance and validation, and the magic pencil can prove to be a helpful tool in achieving these objectives.

OVERALL RESEARCH and STRATEGY

The research for the digital artefact was divided into two phases. In the first phase my team and I focused on generating images through Midjourney. In the second phase we focused more on personalising the artefact for the users and providing them with a more customisable experience in the metaverse. The strategy for the digital artefact was to help the users have a more unique and memorable experience in the metaverse. The motivation of

the artefact was to encourage users to interact and engage more with others in the metaverse and have a personalised experience. The artefact was designed keeping in mind the three themes again as we wanted the users to know that their opinions are valued and can freely express themselves without any hesitation.

FINDINGS ANALYSIS

The research revolved around objects that would prove to be an interactive tool in the metaverse experience. Images were generated through Midjourney. The objects that we looked up as a potential artefact were school uniforms and educational items. The aim was to encourage engagement through the artefact. The artefact had to look friendly. Hence, we looked for objects that would be colourful and suitable for the target audience.

My team and I analysed school uniforms for the first artefact choice. School uniforms focused more on freedom and inclusivity. Through the use of various colours and style of clothes the themes were visible. But there was not much focus on the theme of growth.

The educational tools offered a range of options and were able to depict growth, freedom and inclusivity in multiple ways depending on the object selected and its use in the metaverse.

INSIGHTS RESEARCH OUTCOMES

After analysing the various options my team and I decided to go ahead with the educational tool and chose that as an option for the digital artefact. As it was a familiar, daily use item, there was a lot that we could do with using educational objects as an artefact. The objects would act as a multipurpose tool and would help us in promoting engagement and interactivity in the metaverse. Depending on the object we could provide customisable options as well.

PHASE 1: The phase one research outcomes were generated through Midjourney and were images of fashion and educational objects with a futuristic touch to it. The outfits had a very high-tech and modern look to it and represented the theme of inclusivity really well. The educational objects appeared magical and futuristic and represented all the themes in multiple ways because of its visual appearance.

image source: Midjourney

RESEARCH PHASE 1

GRADUATION CAP

DESIGN PROCESS

The design process included the development of an educational object as a digital artefact. The options that my team explored were a graduation hat, magic pencil, and school bag. The graduation hat represented the themes of freedom and growth but as it was not a daily use item we found its relevancy and purpose less for the target audience.

The pencil managed to depict freedom, inclusivity, and growth and fulfilled these criterias in different

ways. Freedom could be a form of expression, inclusivity could be in the form of note-sharing and growth as it is a daily use object in terms of education. The school bag represented growth in the form of independence but failed to depict freedom and inclusivity. Hence, we decided to further explore the magic pencil as an artefact in the metaverse.

MAGIC PENCIL

SCHOOL BAG

DESIGN EVALUATION

The magic pencil depicted the themes of freedom and growth clearly in comparison to inclusivity. My team and I wanted to be more explicit in depicting inclusivity hence, we decided to provide the users with a personalised experience for the magic pencil.

The magic pencil would have different variations that would revolve around different emotions; default, sad, joy, and angry. The purpose of this was to make the users feel more welcomed

and safe in the metaverse and allow them to express their feelings anonymously. Each colour would represent a specific emotion. Blue for sad, yellow for joy, and red for angry. If a user feels uncomfortable sharing their feelings a default pencil would be provided as well which would be represented by Anglicare Victoria’s brand colours. But using colours to express emotions was not an option that would really engage people according to the feedback recieved.

Why only colours can represent emotions?

PHASE 2: As the chosen artefact was a pencil my team did some further research about how we could give a more personalised and customisable experience to the user. We focused on emotions as our target audience is from the younger age group and we wanted them to feel like they are in a safe space. We tried representing emotions through colours but we wanted to explore further and hence we conducted

research on Adobe Stock by looking up the words of each emotion. Several images that represented emotions in different ways rather than colours could be seen and proved to be helpful in developing the design further and making it more interactive for the target audience.

image source: adobe stock

FINAL DESIGN OUTCOMES

From the phase two research outcomes we came to a conclusion that emotions can be depicted in different ways other than colours. Hence, we decided to represent six emotions in an unique way for the user to engage with in the metaverse. Joy was represented using ribbons as a form of celebration, disgust through smell, fear through strom and lightning, love in the form of flowers, sad through tears, and angry though smoke/explosion.

For the users who feel uncomfortable sharing their emotions would be provided with a default pencil. The emotions would be hidden from the other users as the purpose of the magic pencil is to help each individual cope with their feelings and understand themselves better while being part of a safe sharing space in the metaverse. But for a personal oneon-one experience it would be visible to the teacher/mentor in the particular space.

image source: adobe stock

DESIGN PROJECT 3.

SPATIAL DESIGN: DESIGN BRIEF and STATEMENT

The spatial design of ‘Dreams Grow Here’ is to create an immersive and captivating environment which extends beyond a typical digital space. The aim of the spatial design is to make use of vibrant colours, imaginative structures, and carefully curated elements to enthral users. The focus is to revolutionize education by creating a joyful and boundary-breaking learning experience. It aims to transport users, especially children and young adults,

to a digital realm where learning goes beyond traditional limits. Emotional exploration is crucial as users gain mastery over their feelings, unlocking an optimal learning environment and nurturing emotional intelligence for academic and personal success. Dreams Grow Here goes beyond being just an educational platform. It is a gateway to endless possibilities, where users can immerse themselves in a world where dreams come alive.

OVERALL RESEARCH and STRATEGY

Different images were curated and a mood board based on different ideas for the spatial design was developed. The visuals were futuristic, had gradient colours, geometrical shapes, and had interactive elements. The main strategy of the spatial design was to improve communication, create a sense of belonging, focus on mental health, promote inclusivity, and enhance the overal learning experience.

In relevance to education Anglicare

Victoria offered programs like TEACHaR and homework clubs to help children work on their skills. Hence, my team and I found it important to include these activites and continue providing the experiences in a more accessible way and enrich their learning experience. The aim was to create better collaboration and co-creation experiences for the users in the metaverse through these programs.

FINDINGS ANALYSIS

Through the research we found the ideas of fun and interactive experience to be incorporated into a collaborative way by introducing gamification elements into the space. The structures were organic and geometrical shapes which would encourage engagement and interactivity amongst the users. Most of the research was conducted through Pinterest and we discovered interesting futuristic ideas to enhance learning and emotional experience.

In order to showcase a fun learning environment the research showed that most spaces promoted the use of shapes that would create a playful enviornment for children. The use of vibrant colours gave a feeling of a safe space and also helped to promote mental health awareness by building an emotionally driven environment. Utilising the space in a way that encourages interactivity was seen in many images. The use of colours and structures played an important role.

INSIGHTS

After analysing the images of different spatial designs my team and I came to a conclusion that kid friendly shapes could be the most engaging element in the metaverse for the users. It could help us create an essence of a safe space and focus on coping with mental health issues as well and improve well-being. The space had to make use of structures that could in turn act as an activity as well in the metaverse.

RESEARCH OUTCOMES

The research was conducted through pinterest and the images were found in relation to a fun, futuristic space to enhance collaboration and work towards improving emotional intelligence. The research also focused on spatial designs that could be used as a hangout room for the users and and create opportunities for collaboration and co-creation in the metaverse.

image source: pinterest

RESEARCH OUTCOME - PINTEREST

DESIGN PROCESS

The design process took place in three phases. In the first phase my team member developed sketches of the spatial design and the metaverse experience for the users. The emphasis was on creating a playful environment and developing activites for the children and also focus on mental health concerns.

In the second phase a storybaord was curated to visualize each scene of the metaverse and plan the experience and metaverse journey more

accurately for the users. It helped us in developing the spatial design further as we became aware about the elements that required more focus. In the third phase spatial enviornment were developed and 3D models were created. Three spaces were created; emotion exploration room, classroom, and the homework club. Each room had two versions which would then be evaluated further.

PHASE 1 - SPATIAL DESIGN SKETCHES

1. Introduction

2. Logo animation

3. Artefact introduction

4. Artefact variations

5. Choose artefact based on emotion

6. User enters emotion room

7. User enters next room

8. Interactive classroom experience

9. Personalised teaching experience

10. User engagement through sharing emotions

DESIGN EVALUATION

In total six spaces were developed in the design process out of which four versions were selected based on the feedback we gained. The spaces designed for the emotion exploration room had a fun and playful environment which would encourage interactivity. We tried to incorporate a puzzle into the space that would create a sense of journey for the users.

The second space is the classroom which has a centralised layout and

focuses on an inclusive learning experience. The third space is the homework club with an organic shape. The aim of this space is to encourage relaxation and playful experience in the metaverse.

EMOTION EXPLORATION

EMOTION EXPLORATION CLASSROOM

HOMEWORK CLUB

FINAL DESIGN OUTCOMES

In the final design an immersive and captivating environment through the use of vibrant colours, organic shapes, and different elements can be seen. The Emotion Exploration areas elevate the sensory experience, blending vibrant colours and intricate structures to engage users deeply. Through gamification and interactivity, users embark on a transformative journey to explore and navigate their emotional landscapes.

TEACHaR 2.0, with its futuristic UX

platform, enhances environmental perception. Its open design encourages active participation and social interaction. Users are immersed in a sensory-rich educational experience. The Homework Club fosters inclusivity and freedom, offering various interactive options and a refreshing atmosphere for collaborative learning. It facilitates connections among individuals with shared interests.

ENTRANCE

CO-BUBBLY

CO-BUBBLY INTERFACE - 1

CO-BUBBLY INTERFACE - 2

LEARNING CENTRE - TEACHaR 2.0

HOMEWORK CLUB

HOMEWORK CLUB - INTERFACE 1

HOMEWORK CLUB - DEFAULT VIEW

HOMEWORK CLUB - INTERFACE 2

HOMEWORK CLUB - TEACHERS VIEW

FUTURE PLANS

CONCLUSION

Dreams Grow Here is an initiative to bring transformative changes to the lives of children and young adults. Utilizing the immersive metaverse space provides a supportive environment for individuals facing challenges within the traditional education system or complex emotional situations. The metaverse offers a safe and inclusive space for users to explore and express their emotions, seek guidance, and connect with others with similar experiences.

Promoting “Dreams Grow Here” as a learning platform

Ensure equitable access for vulnerable demographics

FUTURE DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS

In the future we would like to expand Dreams Grow Here beyond being just an educational platform. It is a gateway to endless possibilities, where users can immerse themselves in a world where dreams come alive. We would like to offer services that would extend the benefits of virtual environment to physical and mental health support. The virtual space would an unique and engaging experience that enhance social connection, personal growth and development.

Interdiscipline Experts Collaborations

Implementation in educational institutions

Implementation in well-being services

REFERENCES

.

https://www.anglicarevic.org.au

https://www.anglicarevic.org.au/branding-guidelines/

https://www.instagram.com/anglicarevictoria/

https://www.pinterest.com.au

https://www.viewsonic.com/global/presscenter/content/universe-ametaverse-built-for-education_5380

https://www.edverse.com

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=innerworld&ie=U TF-8&oe=UTF-8

CASE STUDIES

APPENDICES .

TEAM WORK CONTRIBUTION

My team members include Cynthia, Rafael, and me. The research work regarding the organization and relevant case studies was undertaken by all three of us. The poster design process development was done

by Raf and Cynthia. Artefact design development was done by Cynthia and me. Spatial design was created by Cynthia. The introduction animation video was created by me.

UNIVERSE EDVERSE INNER WORLD