SOTERIA

The Design

Project Development

Overview

Addressing the challenges of loneliness and stress faced by remote workers due to physical isolation and an imbalanced work-life, Project Soteria is an award-winning innovation from Columbia University. This virtual reality cityscape combats social isolation and anxiety by offering a sanctuary for remote workers to share and experience genuine moments. Within this cityscape, users' thoughts, feelings, and attitudes are manifested as tangible elements, such as changing weather patterns, bridging the emotional gap between the physical and digital realms. By doing so, Project Soteria fosters deeper connections and understanding among its users.

My Role

My role was as a UX Designer and Researcher: I conducted primary and secondary research to uncover the nature of the users needs, ideated design solutions, designed functionality, developed the virtual reality prototype, created the video trailer, and created the theoretical frameworks for the problem space and design solution.

Duration

6 weeks

Platforms

Virtual reality (VR),

mobile

Tools

Unity3D

Figma

Miro

Adobe After Effects

Tiltbrush by Google

Skills

Design thinking

VR development

Graphic design

Video editing

UX research,

Learning design

Design Features

How Do We Foster Authentic Self-Expression in Soteria?

Snapshots of Daily Life: Users receive time-bound (e.g., 1 min) mobile prompts to share anonymous "snapshots" of their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes. These snapshots then appear in their VR balcony.
VR Garden: A visual representation of personal snapshots and connections with snapshots shared by others.

Rationale: Authentic self-disclosure enhances well-being and social support. Yet, social media often promotes selective self-presentation, leading to unrealistic social comparisons. Soteria uses anonymity and time-based prompts to encourage genuine emotional disclosure.

Figures 1 & 2. Mobile prompts capture users' thoughts, visualized as messages in bottles within Soteria.

Figures 3 & 4. Mobile prompts capture users' hopes, visualized as paper boat messages within Soteria.

Figures 5 & 6. Mobile prompts capture users' feelings, visualized as weather changes (e.g., rain) within Soteria.

Figures 7 & 8. Mobile snapshots in Soteria are represented as flowers in a garden. Selecting a flower alters the VR world to reflect the captured emotion.

How Does Soteria Enhance Social Support?

Presence with VR: Immersive experiences where users perceive avatar actions as their own.
Message Exchange: Facilitates the exchange and saving of messages.
Communal Spaces: Problem-solving and hope-sharing communal spaces.
Professional Help: A hotline for users to receive support from mental health professionals.

Rationale: VR provides immersive experiences, enhancing understanding and togetherness. Soteria offers a space for authentic emotional exploration, promoting peer modeling and increasing the availability of confidants. Users are also encouraged to support each other.

Figure 9. Users can respond to others' bottled messages with encouragement or shared experiences.

Figure 10. The city campfire offers community Q&A, increasing access to new contacts and feedback.

Figure 11. Wellness phone booths in each user's balcony space connect them to mental health professionals.

Figure 12. The wishing waters allow users to share their hopes for the future.

Project Development

Empathize: Understanding the User

Identified potential metaverse issues through brainstorming.
Conducted interviews with six remote workers using convenience sampling.
Developed an empathy map and user persona based on feedback.

Define: Pinpointing the Problem & Solution

Reviewed literature on loneliness in remote workers.
Analyzed competing projects for strengths and gaps.
Brainstormed desired learning outcomes for users.
Synthesized research findings into a theoretical framework of the problem space.

Ideate: Envisioning Solutions

Idea A:
- Virtual companion reflecting users' emotions.
- Marks significant emotional moments for later reflection.
Idea B:
- Digital avatar-controlled space.
- "Water-cooler" chats and resource exchange for work challenges.
Idea C:
- Virtual environment portraying users' emotions via a Merge Cube.
- Augmented reality and biometrics to boost remote colleague connection.

Prototype: Bringing the Design to Life

Developed an interactive mobile demo using Figma.
Created an immersive VR demo with Tiltrush and Unity 3D.