An experimental training tool, funded by grants in an effort to better understand how we can help new social workers hone their skills alongside developing technology.
Why this project?
This “social work sim” was a collaboration between the NYU-CREATE educational game production lab and the Silver School of Social Work. Together they sought to develop a format that allows an immersive digital training experience that goes beyond standard tests or study guides.
Together, we did the ground-up design work and iterated on the needed features as requested by clinicians and researchers. The simulation was developed in an active lab with ongoing effectiveness studies.
Engine: Unity (C#) with Google Sheets integration in 2024.
My Roles: Solo developer. Duties included: Interactions design, programming, UI/UX design, animation.
Process
Design Documentation
While working with NYU-CREATE and Silver, I developed the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) for an AI-powered, VR training tool to assist social workers and therapists in their training. I gained firsthand experience working in a simultaneous mental health-gaming space. This was an enlightening project to be included on. Each member of the lab that I spoke with gave me a new point of view on how to best develop with mental health and learning in mind. I received constant feedback on the best ways to adjust UI or create more immersive learning experiences.
My daily schedule included daily stand-ups to update key stakeholders on project progress and reaching funding goals. I also programed a JSON-based dialogue system that interprets an AI-generated storyline and imports specific scene-change data. I had to connect this system to an animation rig and programmed the animator to display facial emotion on the 3D avatar as the scenes went on. This was all combined into a the design work behind a seamless VR user interface, which provided its own unique set of immersion challenges. Rapid prototyping and consistent comparative analysis was essential to improving the product.
I also maintained records of the development process and potential future choices to be made in the next stage of funding, such as the ones seen above.