soul arcade

Virtual Reality

Immersive storytelling for neurodiverse and queer communities

when
duration, year
12 weeks, Fall 2024

Where

location, type
Berkeley, Thesis

who

the team
Myself + team of 2 designers and 2 developers

Which

skills, tools
Figma, Unity 3D, GitHub (& Git LFS)

ROle

my responsibilities
Team Lead, Designer, Researcher, Developer

Methods

techniques used
Surveys, Stakeholder Interviews, Participatory Design

Overview

01

Process

From research to prototyping, Soul Arcade evolved through an iterative, human-centered design process. The goal was to balance immersion with accessibility, ensuring that every aspect of the experience deepened engagement, emotional impact, and inclusivity.

Key steps in the process included:

- Global surveys and Interviews with queer and neurodivergent individuals to gather real-life perspectives.

- Sketching and storyboarding to conceptualize the experience before development.

- Prototyping in Unity to test mechanics, pacing, and emotional resonance.

- Player testing to refine interactions and optimize for impact, clarity, and comfort in VR.

What the process looked like for the most part:

02

Research

Extensive literature reviews and supporting research revealed that VR has been proven to enhance empathy by simulating first-person perspectives. Studies in neuroscience and human behavior suggest that embodying another’s experience—even briefly—can reshape biases and deepen understanding.

To ensure authenticity, Soul Arcade was built from real experiences. I conducted a worldwide survey with 182 participants (from every continent except Antarctica, mainly because penguins can’t type). The initial question I pursued was ‘What makes people truly care about others?’ This led me to narrowing down the scope to queer and neurodiverse communities as they are some of the most misunderstood individuals among the majority around the world.

Then I chose the path of participatory design and started interviewing the people around me who were part of these communities. I talked to about 12 people in Berkeley who came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and experiences. A simple consent form was written by me and I promised to protect their anonymity throughout the process and even beyond, as they shared with me deeply personal stories and parts of themselves.

Here are a few quotes I pulled from some of the interviews:

Extensive literature reviews and supporting research revealed that VR has been proven to enhance empathy by simulating first-person perspectives. Studies in neuroscience and human behavior suggest that embodying another’s experience—even briefly—can reshape biases and deepen understanding.

To ensure authenticity, Soul Arcade was built from real experiences. I conducted a worldwide survey with 182 participants (from every continent except Antarctica, mainly because penguins can’t type). The initial question I pursued was ‘What makes people truly care about others?’ This led me to narrowing down the scope to queer and neurodiverse communities as they are some of the most misunderstood individuals among the majority around the world.

Then I chose the path of participatory design and started interviewing the people around me who were part of these communities. I talked to about 12 people in Berkeley who came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and experiences. A simple consent form was written by me and I promised to protect their anonymity throughout the process and even beyond, as they shared with me deeply personal stories and parts of themselves.

Here are a few quotes I pulled from some of the interviews:

Some key takeaways from my research that shaped the experience:



Empathy is strongest when it’s interactive.


→ Giving players agency deepens their emotional investment.

Fear and self-perception shape reality.

→ The experience’s mirror mechanic represents the internal dialogue of self-acceptance and dysphoria.

Abstraction makes experiences more universal.


→ Paper cut-out characters allow players to project their own fears and emotions.

Identity isn’t a single moment—it’s a journey.


→ Experiences needed fluid transitions, choice-driven narratives, and evolving environments to reflect this.

Queer and neurodivergent experiences overlap in sensory perception.

→ The VR design had to visually and audibly reflect sensory overwhelm, anxiety, and isolation.

"Stepping into stories, rather than just hearing them."

Soul Arcade was designed to move beyond passive storytelling. Instead of watching someone’s journey unfold, the player actively participates, shaping their own path within the experience. So, it isn’t just ‘a game’—it’s an interactive reflection on self-identity, social perception, and human connection.

Core Design Principles:

🎭 Immersive Embodiment – Players don’t watch a story unfold; they live it, feel it, and shape it.


💡 Symbolic Environments – Instead of realism, Soul Arcade visualizes emotions through shifting spaces.


🎮 Player Choice & Perspective – The player’s decisions impact how the environment responds, reinforcing how identity is shaped by external and internal factors.

Here are some challenges I faced and how they were overcome:


Emotional weight vs. player comfort → Solution: Allow players to opt out of certain moments or pace their own journey.

Animating character emotions → Solution: Use lighting, static facial expressions, 2D movement, and environmental shifts to communicate feelings.

Creating an inclusive experience → Solution: Test with a diverse range of players and incorporate direct feedback into refinements.

Coming soon

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03

Insights

Some key takeaways from my research that shaped the experience:



Empathy is strongest when it’s interactive.


→ Giving players agency deepens their emotional investment.

Fear and self-perception shape reality.

→ The experience’s mirror mechanic represents the internal dialogue of self-acceptance and dysphoria.

Abstraction makes experiences more universal.


→ Paper cut-out characters allow players to project their own fears and emotions.

Identity isn’t a single moment—it’s a journey.


→ Experiences needed fluid transitions, choice-driven narratives, and evolving environments to reflect this.

Queer and neurodivergent experiences overlap in sensory perception.

→ The VR design had to visually and audibly reflect sensory overwhelm, anxiety, and isolation.

04

Concept

"Stepping into stories, rather than just hearing them."

Soul Arcade was designed to move beyond passive storytelling. Instead of watching someone’s journey unfold, the player actively participates, shaping their own path within the experience. So, it isn’t just ‘a game’—it’s an interactive reflection on self-identity, social perception, and human connection.

Core Design Principles:

🎭 Immersive Embodiment – Players don’t watch a story unfold; they live it, feel it, and shape it.


💡 Symbolic Environments – Instead of realism, Soul Arcade visualizes emotions through shifting spaces.


🎮 Player Choice & Perspective – The player’s decisions impact how the environment responds, reinforcing how identity is shaped by external and internal factors.

05

Constraints

Here are some challenges I faced and how they were overcome:


Emotional weight vs. player comfort → Solution: Allow players to opt out of certain moments or pace their own journey.

Animating character emotions → Solution: Use lighting, static facial expressions, 2D movement, and environmental shifts to communicate feelings.

Creating an inclusive experience → Solution: Test with a diverse range of players and incorporate direct feedback into refinements.

06

Narrative

Each space in Soul Arcade represents a different stage of self-awareness and identity exploration.

1. The Hallway of Perception: Facing the External World

A long, dimly lit hallway stretches seemingly infinitely, lined with doors and mirrors on both sides. The mirrors stand ominously, reflecting not the user—but a mask.

🔹 Core Interaction: Getting close to the doors to listen in on difficult conversations between queer people and others. Looking into the mirrors triggers internal monologues—whispers of doubt, societal expectations, and the fear of being seen.


🔹 Key Narrative Experience: Users hear phrases like “You’ll never be enough,” or “What if they stop loving you?” as their masked reflection distorts.


🔹 Movement Mechanic: Users teleport through the hallway, stopping to eavesdrop through doors or confront mirrors on either side.


🔹 Emotional Impact: The hallway embodies the weight of expectations and the struggle of self-acceptance.

2. The Bedroom: Traces of a Hidden Self

Unlike the hallway, the bedroom is warm, cluttered with childhood objects, and completely without mirrors.

🔹 Core Interaction: Users touch objects (a journal, a doll, a sports poster), triggering memories of the kid who once played here.


🔹 Key Narrative Experience: The journal contains unfinished thoughts: "Why do I feel this way?" The sports poster whispers a past doubt: "I don’t think I belong here." The doll stirs curiosity: "What if I could be her instead?"


🔹 Movement Mechanic: Users teleport between different interaction points within the room.


🔹 Emotional Impact: The room is a time capsule of quiet self-discovery, forcing users to sit with past emotions and reflect.

3. The Coming Out Scene: A Shifting Family Dinner

The user sits at a dining table with their family, but the environment is unstable. Depending on their actions, the room warms with acceptance or grows colder and distant.

🔹 Core Interaction: The player chooses how to express themselves, leading to different reactions from the family—some loving, some painful.


🔹 Key Narrative Experience: Responses shift the tone, lighting, and even the physical structure of the room. The room shrinks into distance, symbolizing alienation.


🔹 Movement Mechanic: Users do not move here—they are locked into the moment, reinforcing the weight of their choices.


🔹 Emotional Impact: This scene encapsulates the real, lived tension of coming out, where support is never guaranteed.

07

Storyboard

Coming soon

08

Prototype

Coming soon

09

Reflection

Coming soon

10

Principle

More projects

this page is still in the works

Please check back again in a week.
Thank you :)
Animation by Artemiy on LottieFiles

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  • Item A
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Superscript

Subscript

"Stepping into stories, rather than just hearing them."

Soul Arcade was designed to move beyond passive storytelling. Instead of watching someone’s journey unfold, the player actively participates, shaping their own path within the experience. So, it isn’t just ‘a game’—it’s an interactive reflection on self-identity, social perception, and human connection.

Core Design Principles:

🎭 Immersive Embodiment – Players don’t watch a story unfold; they live it, feel it, and shape it.


💡 Symbolic Environments – Instead of realism, Soul Arcade visualizes emotions through shifting spaces.


🎮 Player Choice & Perspective – The player’s decisions impact how the environment responds, reinforcing how identity is shaped by external and internal factors.

Here are some challenges I faced and how they were overcome:


Emotional weight vs. player comfort → Solution: Allow players to opt out of certain moments or pace their own journey.

Animating character emotions → Solution: Use lighting, static facial expressions, 2D movement, and environmental shifts to communicate feelings.

Creating an inclusive experience → Solution: Test with a diverse range of players and incorporate direct feedback into refinements.

Coming soon

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Heading 2

Heading 3

Heading 4

Heading 5
Heading 6

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Block quote

Ordered list

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3

Unordered list

  • Item A
  • Item B
  • Item C

Text link

Bold text

Emphasis

Superscript

Subscript