Learning Through Decisions
Caregiving principles were translated into situational choices, asking users to practice not only what to do, but how to communicate.
GUARDIAN'S
GUIDE
/01 EXPERIENCE
FROM GUIDANCE
TO INDEPENDENCE
A four-stage training journey that moves from learning VR controls to applying caregiving knowledge independently.
Learn the Controls
Build confidence with essential VR interactions before training begins.
Controls → Context → Guided Practice → Independent Application
/02 TUTORIAL
LEARNING
BY DOING
First-time VR users learn Move, Turn, Grab, Push and Teleport through interaction.
Reference / Adaptation
A controller tutorial pattern adapted for Guardian's Guide onboarding.
/03 CHILD PROFILE
FROM A PROFILE
TO EXPLORATION
Instead of reading a one-page profile, caregivers discover communication, sensory and food-related needs through the child's environment.
Original Profile / Supporting Context
Discover & Review
Red / To Discover
Unexplored care information.
Yellow / Reviewed
Visited information remains accessible for review.
Check Before Progressing
Users confirm that all red objects have been explored before moving on.
Grounding the Experience
Conversations with caregivers and autism organisations helped ground the training scenarios in lived experience.
/04 GUIDED PRACTICE
PRACTICE
WITH GUIDANCE
A linear task sequence turns care knowledge into practical decisions.
01 / Tableware
Avoid Object Dependency
Choose neutral tableware without distinctive branding.
02 / Toast
Introduce Small Changes
Adjust a familiar food gradually to expand texture acceptance.
03 / Fruit
Build from Preferences
Choose a softer fruit instead of introducing a drastic change.
/05 INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
APPLY WITH
LESS GUIDANCE
Learners receive one broader goal — prepare the child for snack time — and decide what requires attention.
Reduce Sensory Load
Close the window to reduce distracting outside noise.
Avoid Abrupt Transitions
Do not suddenly interrupt an activity the child enjoys.
Keep Language Simple
Use brief, literal language rather than unnecessary wording.
Use Visual Communication
Select the appropriate visual card to communicate the next activity.
Make Time Visible — and Offer Choice
Present multiple timers so the child can choose how much transition time they need.
The hourglass makes waiting visible while preserving the child's sense of choice.
Guided Kitchen
Step-by-step prompts
Linear progression
Guided decisions
Independent Living Room
One broader goal
Distributed interaction points
Independent exploration
/06 SYSTEM
BUILDING RULES
AROUND THE TRAINING
Different learning stages required different scoring, progression and anti-repeat logic.
Building the Training Environment
I translated the home-based snack routine into an interactive Unity environment.
Turning Guidance into Feedback
Interaction events connected object states with immediate visual feedback.
Building the Practice Loop
Task states, object placement, UI feedback, and scoring were linked into one practice sequence.
Encoding Caregiving Principles
Research-informed guidance was embedded directly into the training content and feedback system.
Guided Kitchen System
Decision Gating
The first choice locks the result and removes the alternative.
The next task unlocks only after the current one is complete.
Choose → Lock → Remove Alternative → Unlock Next
Validation & Repeat Prevention
Collision Validation
Tags and colliders determine which choice was made.
Prevent Repeated Scoring
After scoring, the selected object's Grab interaction is disabled.
Choose → Collider Validates → Score → Disable Grab
Living Room System
Living Room
Task Logic
Stable Placement
Sockets snap objects into their intended positions.
Distributed Scoring
Living Room tasks score independently across different interaction points.
- Experience Design
- Training architecture and interaction flow
- Unity Development
- Scoring, triggers, progression and object logic
- XR Interaction
- Onboarding, environment exploration and decision systems
- User Testing
- Usability iteration and comparative validation
/07 VALIDATION
TESTED WITH
12 PARTICIPANTS
The completed VR training was compared with a paper-based child profile.
VR Training
6 / VR
Paper Profile
6 / Paper
Responsiveness
Significantly
Higher in VR
p = 0.044
Confidence
VR
6 / 6
Paper
3 / 6
All VR participants reported confidence, compared with half of the paper group.
Other measured outcomes did not reach statistical significance.
/03 Next ProjectScroll down
A real-scale kinetic installation that turns heritage memory into motion, rhythm and light.