Inspiration
Our team really wanted to incorporate a microphone recording feature in a VR game. After some brainstorming and team dialogue, we decided to make an educational game that teaches the user a new language and uses the microphone to perfect pronunciation in the native language.
What it does
The user is transported to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The user can then navigate and start speaking with our in-game characters. They can learn Chinese and record their voice as they pronounce words. By interacting with the NPC's the user gains a realistic experience, making it more comfortable to speak Chinese in real life.
The user can play back their recording to compare their accent with the native accent to get better.
How we built it
To build this project we used Unity, the Oculus Rift, our mobile, some careful screenwriting, and a native Chinese speaker.
Challenges we ran into
Two of the Four team members were brand new to Unity and it was their very first time hacking at a Hackathon. We also never worked together before.
Initially, we wanted an Airport environment but we learned quickly that was hard to make. As a result, we had to choose the right environment to create a realistic scenario in time.
In an effort to make reusable code Daniel created a framework to simplify general interaction with users and NPC. This will make it easier to expand the game to include additional NPCs and dialogs in our game.
We did not have a microphone so all of the recordings were done by phone. We had to make over 60 recordings to create the scenario.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We really came together as a team. Our chemistry was on point and we managed to combine all of our interests in SpeakWithMe. Each step of the way we asked each other how we could improve as well as teach each other new skills.
One member, a bioengineer, got more experience in programming and Unity.
At the start of the project, we made a checklist and were able to complete all of our objectives.
Daniel is proud of putting his voice acting skills in the game.
Xenia (who is from Taipei) and the rest of the group are proud of teaching Chinese to our users.
For the two team members who are celebrating their first hackathon, they are proud to create a demo-ready game.
What we learned
Our group learned a lot more about Unity and Oculus Rift.
Rick learned how to write a script [screenplay.]
As a group, we learned how to solve problems as a team.
What's next for SpeakWithMe
We're very excited to expand the game. We'd like to create more lessons for users in Chinese. We'd also like to include more languages such as Spanish, French, German, and many more. Most importantly we want to create a more immersive experience. Our potential is really limitless.
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