Using the concept of Memory Palace, my team and I recreated a familiar space on campus to explore the relationship between visualization and spatial memory and to translate the physical space into digital, virtual space. The gamified portion of the experience tests the effectiveness of the Memory Palace as a memorization technique, illustrating what is normally a “conscious dreaming” into a visceral, interactive experience. (Final project)
“To everything that we wish to remember, we should give an image; and to every one of these images we should assign a position where it can repose peacefully until we are ready to reclaim it by an act of memory.” - Matteo Ricci
Goals
Using the concept of a Memory Palace to 1. recreate a familiar space on campus (Clapp Library) to explore the relationship between visualization and spatial memory and 2. translate the physical space to digital, virtual space.
Designing a gamified portion of the experience that tests the effectiveness of Memory Palace as a memorization technique, illustrating what is normally a “conscious dreaming” into a visceral, interactive experience.
Testing how effective virtual reality is in creating memory in a way that is seamlessly integrated into our memory and experience.
Building all assets from scratch and recreating the Portrait Room as close to the actual room in real life as possible.
Tools
Unity, Oculus, ProBuilder, SteamVR
Features
Technical: Buttons, Triggers, Feedback system, Hinges (for doors), Teleportation, Animation, Countdown
Basic premise: As soon as the player enters the room, the countdown clock will start. They are given 60 seconds to move around the Clapp Library Portrait Room to remember the name of the presidents with their corresponding portraits and locations in the room. After 60 seconds, the portraits will disappear, and the players will have to select the portrait they think belongs to that location and matches the name on the frame. Once all portraits are placed correctly, the door to the next room will open, and the players can step on the platform to teleport (or really, to glide through ~) to the space that lies beyond the Portrait Room door.
Players will not be told whether their selection is correct or not until all 6 of the portraits have been selected (to prevent the process of elimination).
Particular out-of-place objects are placed to make the memorization process more effective (the objects are memorable/“ludicrous” enough to remember).
Personal Role in the Project
Built the assets from scratch and designed the overall layout of the room(s) and workflow of the game. Specifically:
gamification of the memory palace technique/process
designing a logical game flow (translating the technique into a VR game); overarching/high-level design; how to avoid information and experience overload in VR
researched on memory palace as a memorization technique & pitched the idea of a memory palace to explore in this project.
Managed the collaborative process among teammates who were each focused on coding (C#) and asset building (Maya) while dabbling in both.
Our project was selected for demo at the open house and department-related events.
Background
A Memory Palace, sometimes referred to as the Method of Loci, is a mnemonic system in which you visualize a familiar space in your mind and as you journey through the space, you map information to specific objects or locations. Information retrieval relies on memorized spatial relationships to establish order and activate memory content. Having familiar spaces is critical in the success of the technique, for it eases the process of mental association and navigation. It is for that reason the spaces in our project are based on common locations around campus that players in our class will know.
My team was initially intrigued by the physical yet transient nature of VR experience and the interplay between physical memory and a sense of illusion created upon wearing a VR headset. The flow of the player’s movement through different rooms within the Memory Palace encourages exploration while questions related to the objects in the spaces induces the need for efficient information recall. Utilizing methods of memorization that stem from natural environment interactions, we are hoping to create a project that is both interesting as a VR experience and as a valuable memory enhancement tool.