ORPHANIDESIGN
Exploring the Design of Interactive Digital Experiences
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VIEW FROM THE SHARD - VERTIGO EXPERIENCE

VIEW FROM THE SHARD
VERTIGO EXPERIENCE

Company: INITION
Role: Designer

 

DESCRIPTION

We were commissioned to create a thrilling multi-sensory Virtual Reality experience for The View from the Shard, the open-air Skydeck in London’s iconic building “The Shard”.

This virtual adventure sees the building fall away, leaving you suspended in the air, walking across the Shard’s early infrastructure and balancing on the stripped-back construction site of Western Europe’s tallest building. Romeo the fox, the mascot that represents the intrepid real fox who was discovered on level 72 during the construction of the building also makes an appearance as you take your instructions from the site foreman.

The experience begins with the user standing on the virtual Skydeck, upon The Shard’s 72nd floor. As the user physically steps forward, the floor and glass walls fall away revealing a great 360° panorama of London beneath their feet. Suspended at 244 metres in the air and balancing on a narrow steel girder, visitors are encouraged to complete daring tasks. These include getting to lifts, retrieving lunch bags on scaffolding and keeping track of Romeo’s whereabouts.

The fully interactive experience uses HTC Vive and Vive controllers to allow users to navigate around the open-air construction. We used high-resolution 360 stereoscopic imagery, ultra-realistic modelling of the building itself and animated models of the different sections to really bring the environment to life. This project took many of the lessons learned from the Vertigo R&D project that I worked on and applied them in a way that was accessible to the general user, unfamiliar with VR.

BRIEF

SPECIFICATION

  • Objective: Design a vertigo walk the plank plank experience for the ‘View from the Shard' attraction at The Shard.

  • Core Gameplay: Walk across the planks to complete the tasks set out by the foreman.

  • Environment: The Shard building during its construction.

  • Endgame/Reward: Complete all tasks, feel the adrenaline, conquer your fear.

  • Target Audience: Everyone.

  • Play Time: ~ 4 minutes

  • Comfort: 3/5

TECHNICAL

  • Digital Medium: Virtual Reality

  • VR Platform: HTC Vive with 2 x Controllers

  • Locomotion System: 1:1 room scale