WEEK 1-3
Prayer Peace & Power
Project Pitch:In the black church, we devote time to “altar call”. Church members come to the altar, kneel and pray. They pray for themselves, for loved ones, for the church, for whatever hits their heart. If they pray long enough, a minister of the church will lay hands on them and pray aloud with them. It is a deeply spiritual moment. Virtual Reality has a unique set of features that could enhance this spiritual moment. Imagine kneeling before an altar blessed by your pastor. You then put on a VR headset. As you bow your head, your favorite gospel song begins to play. You watch the ground race away from you until you are floating high above your neighborhood. Your God's eye view is occasionally obscured by clouds or a flock of birds but the image is accurate because the GPS technology, in your headset, knows where you are on the globe. You look up and observe a bright halo above your head. Beyond the gold glowing ring are a pair of angels towering over you with wings outstretched. Suddenly, you hear the voice of your best friend praying for you. The software has called one of your designated prayer warriors and they have answered the call. They speak affirmations in your ears. You are overcome with peace and praise. You are overwhelmed with the beauty of heaven and the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Biography:
Kwesi Davis has worked in the entertainment software industry for over a decade. His experiences include projects at video gaming, commercial effects, animated television and feature animation companies. He is currently a Sr. Pipeline Engineer at DreamWorks Animation SKG.
Progress Report:
- Downloaded and played various VR applications
- Watched Unity DLL & Plugin integration videos
- Tested multiple 3rd-party voice chat solutions
- Built a non-VR Unity mobile app with basic multiplayer voice chat feature
- Built and ran first VR Android app (the unfinished Launch Pad Boot Camp project)
- Contacted two concept artist
- Had first production meeting with Concept Artist 1
- Watched Unity Networking video
- Watched Unity Survival Shooter videos
WEEK 8-9
This is our desired experience. A user puts on VR headset. The headset contacts user's friend. The friend prays for the user.
When a user creates an account, we'll register their device with the appropriate (Apple or Google) notification server. The notification server registration process will send the user an application/device token; which uniquely identifies our app running on the user's device. Next, we forward that token from the user's device to our application server; which inserts the token into our database. In addition to the token, we can also store a list of the user's friends. See Figure 1.
Figure 1
When the user, and their friends, have an account, we can properly support sending a push notification. If a user puts on the VR headset, our application contacts the application server to say, "a user has entered prayer". The application server retrieves the given user's friends from the database and chooses one at random. The chosen friend's token is then pulled from the database and a message is sent, to the friend, informing them that the user wants to receive a prayer. See Figure 2.
Figure 2
It's taken two weeks to research and implement theses techniques. I learned a lot along the way. Here are some push notification solutions that I explored:
* Urban Airship - couldn't resolve build errors/little Unity help
* PushWoosh - Free account had a lot of limitations
* Carnival - no free account
* Parse - company being purchased, stopping service
* Gamedonia - company being purchased, no new accounts
* Playfab - good tutorials, commitment to gaming
I wrote an example application server, in Python, using Google's App Engine platform. It exposes a REST interface designed to add user (or Believer) accounts, add user's friends (or Prayer Warriors) and retrieve user device tokens.
Google App Engine Demo
I built an example mobile app, in Java, using Google's Android platform. It demonstrates sending a message from a REST endpoint, through Google's Cloud Messaging notification service and finally to a specific application running on a specific device.
Android Push Notification Demo
WEEK 11-13
My quest for getting the user name, a few weeks ago, lead me to stumble onto the power of the Oculus Platform framework. Using the Platform tools, I was able to upload my test app to Oculus Home (without waiting for Oculus store approval), create player "rooms" for shared experiences, leverage Oculus accounts for "friend" features, let Oculus manage the users' device tokens from Google's Notification Service and exploit the new Oculus voice chat (VoIP) technology. I've got a working prototype with 4 out of my 6 minimum feature requirements.
[ ] User1 enters basic heaven scene in GearVR
[ ] User2 shares multi-player experience with User1
Here is a video which shows how to add friends to your Oculus account and use that relationship to invite your friend into a "room" for voice over IP chatting.
While trying to make the above video, I ran into obstacles with Android ADB screen capture and the Oculus Universal Menu screen capture. These solutions break in specific situations. So I resorted to some extreme tricks to get video of the entire process.
WEEK 13-15
I decided to post my Oculus Scholarship application because maybe it's helpful to folks or perhaps it sparks ideas for other people's projects. Good luck to everyone that submitted a proposal. I pray everyone continues to do great work.
ABOUT YOU
First Name | Kwesi |
Last Name | Davis |
Email Address | kwesi.a.davis@gmail.com |
Oculus Username | 3DNegro |
ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
Project Name | Prayer App Prototype |
Project Blog | https://forums.oculus.com/developer/discussion/38077/kwesi-davis-prayer-peace-power#latest |
Demo Video |
User’s Guide
The prototype leverages Oculus’ social networking features. It requires at least two users to perform the demo. User#1 can launch the Prayer App Prototype from the Oculus Home menu. When the app starts, User#1 begins her experience in the “Sanctuary” scene. She is immediately presented with an option menu. The menu displays three choices: ‘Call to Prayer’, ‘Answer the Call’, ‘Exit Prayer’.
The ‘Call to Prayer’ option launches a submenu scene where User#1 can choose a friend she would like to pray with. Note, for a friend to appear, as a menu option, the friend (or User#2) must have previously accepted an Oculus friend request and must also have the Prayer App Prototype installed on his device. When User#1 selects User#2 and exits the invitation submenu, she is immediately teleported to the “Heaven” scene. The “Heaven” scene is an Oculus Platform Room. It is also a Unity Multiplayer/Networking Server. Note, the server will publish its LAN address to the Oculus Platform Room, so both devices need to be on the LAN.
Selecting User#2 also sends a push notification to User#2’s device. The notification states that User#1 would like to pray with User#2. Clicking on the notification, launches the application for User#2. Note, the advantage to launching the Prayer App Prototype from a push notification, rather than from the Oculus Home menu is that the notification is consumed and the application is informed of the specific Oculus Platform Room that User#1 wants User#2 to join.
After User#2 clicks on the notification message, the Prayer App Prototype launches and User#2 begins his experience in the “Sanctuary” scene. He is presented with the option menu. The ‘Answer the Call’ option teleports User#2 to the “Heaven” scene; where User#1 is waiting for him. Both users are joined in an Oculus Platform VoIP (voice chat) session, so they can hear and talk to each other. Both users have a simple red cube as their avatars. The orientation of the cube is bound to the orientation of the user’s VR headset, so users can see each other looking around the space. Each user can also control a reticle; which slides across the floor. When the user clicks the touchpad button, they are teleported to the location of the reticle.
To exit the Prayer App Prototype click the back button. This will bring up the option menu. The third choice, in the list, is ‘Exit Prayer’. Hover over this option and press the touchpad button. Note, you should look at the clouds, over the edge of the Heave platform, so that the option menu isn’t superimposed over the platform floor. Clicking the button while looking toward the floor will teleport you. This is a known issue with the prototype.
SCREEN SHOTS
Sanctuary(forward view)
Sanctuary(rear view)
Heaven (platform)
Heaven (night sky)
Sanctuary(forward view)
Sanctuary(rear view)
Heaven (platform)
Heaven (night sky)
DESCRIPTION
The “altar call” tradition, in the black church, brings people to God every Sunday. It heals the body, calms the spirit and opens the mind. It is an invitation to leave your pew, walk to the front of the sanctuary and kneel in the presence of your pastor, your community and your God. The Black Church is obviously a supernatural experience, but it is also a volumetric experience. The 3-D space itself has spiritual meaning. Your physical depth (into the sanctuary) plays a spiritual roll. Standing in the vestibule is less connected to the Holy Spirit than standing at your pew; which is less connected than standing in the pulpit. Your physical height, above the sanctuary floor, also plays a spiritual roll. Standing is less humble than kneeling; which is less humble than laying prostrate. The connection between spirit and space opens a door of opportunity to explore the connection between prayer and VR.
VISION
In my original Oculus Launch Pad pitch, I asked readers to imagine the following. Put on a VR headset. As you bow your head, your favorite gospel song begins to play. You watch the ground race away from you until you are floating high above your neighborhood. Your God's eye view is occasionally obscured by clouds or a flock of birds but the image is accurate because the GPS technology, in your headset, knows where you are on the globe. You look up and observe a bright halo above your head. Beyond the gold glowing ring are a pair of angels towering over you with wings outstretched. Suddenly, you hear the voice of your best friend praying for you. The software has called one of your designated prayer warriors and they have answered the call. They speak affirmations in your ears. You are overcome with peace and praise. You are overwhelmed with the beauty of heaven and the power of the Holy Ghost.
That captures the core experience; which is the ability to pray, with live remote persons, in a spiritually exciting virtual location. However the potential to layer that core experience with additional interactive content is enormous. Here are some concepts currently under development:
prayer request treasure chests; where friends leave recorded prayers on topics you choose
motion captured liturgical dance concerts by wing-wearing angels
voice recognition easter eggs; when the app detects utterances like “Jesus!”, “Hallelujah!” or “Amen!” random special features, gifts, & animations may be unlocked
shrine builder for recently deceased love ones; where friends leave notes, light candles & add photos
prayer environment menu; where users select exotic locations for prayer
In-app cash donation (or tithe) to your local church
In-app gospel music purchase
360-video viewing room for spiritual teachings and recorded sermons
display stream of inspirational quotes
display stream of theme-based scripture verses
TIMELINE
September - December
Nail down the core VoIP chat feature. Polish sending and responding to prayer invites, make menu navigation smooth and intuitive, offer volume controls, allow users to select an avatar. Design and model 1 prayer room. Compose, record and incorporate ambient music and soundscape. UX test these core features rigorously. Shoot a demo video in a real church setting. Ramp up social media presence. Submit a Version 1.0 release to Oculus Store for Christmas.
January - April
Solidify prayer request (voice mail inbox) feature. Polish recording and receiving prayer requests, make message notification clear, make message topic creation simple, allow users to build prayer request topics from pre-defined list (finances, school work, relationships, health issues), allow custom topics. Design and model 2 additional prayer rooms. Allow users to select a prayer room (or virtual location). UX test these new features rigorously. Submit a Version 2.0 release to Oculus Store for Easter.
May
Design, model and rig 4 Angel Dancer characters. Choreograph, rehearse and motion capture liturgical dance sequences. Incorporate dancers into prayer environment. Submit a Version 3.0 release to Oculus Store for Mother’s Day.
USE OF FUNDS
Church folk are notoriously conservative and change adverse. The concept of virtual reality prayer is extremely progressive and represents a mammoth change to the way most people practice spirituality. So creating a safe, empowering, inviting, and blessed experience is absolutely critical. I need a top-noche UX designer. We need to visit real churches and test our application on real church goers. Note, in addition to church visits, the African Methodist Episcopal church (of which; I am a member) has many regional conferences throughout the year; which we plan to attend and demo our product.
We have already encountered UX challenges that are unique to our target audience. Black women far outnumber men in most black churches. Many of these women spend enormous amounts of time, energy and money on making their hair look good for church. The last thing they want to do is put damaging elastic head straps on their perfect and pretty hair style. The current VR headgear is fine for an adolescent boy but bad for a wig-wearing grandma.
Music is another domain that significantly affects the user experience. Gospel recordings, in the black church, are stylistically distinctive and are difficult to find on most stock music websites. We are currently in communication with award winning gospel and jazz artists. We will compose custom music cues and score for ambiance and for the liturgical dance sequences.
We conducted several performance capture tests with dancers wearing a Perception Neuron mocap suit. The results were amazing! There are some very talented liturgical dance ministries in the Los Angeles area, where we are located. We plan on enlisting the talents of local liturgical dancers to enrich the prayer environment with spiritual movement. Once we have the motion capture data, it will need to be cleaned-up and retargeted on our virtual dancers. Note, capturing two dancer interaction requires two Perception Neuron mocap suits.
In addition to the above special considerations. We also have a need for many of the common production assets that any 3d game application would need. We will need a modeler, surfacer, rigger and animator for our user avatars and for custom props. We will need various Unity Asset Store items; like effects, props, textures, canned animation, environments, and utilities. To meet our aggressive production schedule, we must also employ an extra Unity developer to design, implement, test and deploy new software features. Note, doing true user experience testing for a social app requires multiple (at least two) Gear VR devices.
Item | Description | Cost |
PRE-PRODUCTION | ||
1 | Concept Art | 1500 |
2 | Modeling/Surfacing | 1500 |
3 | Rigging | 2500 |
4 | Composer | 2000 |
5 | Unity Store Assets | 500 |
PRODUCTION | ||
6 | Dance Studio Space Rental | 200 |
7 | Private GitHub Repo (9 months) | 225 |
8 | Liturgical Dancers | 2500 |
9 | Animation | 2500 |
10 | Mocap Clean-up | 1500 |
11 | Sound Designer | 1500 |
TECHNICAL | ||
12 | Unity Developer | 3000 |
13 | UX Designer | 1500 |
EQUIPMENT | ||
14 | Samsung S6 + Gear VR | 600 |
15 | Perception Neuron w/ iClone | 2000 |
16 | Anti-Mag case (to protect sensors) + Wireless battery | 250 |
ADVERTISING | ||
17 | Online app promotion | 500 |
18 | A.M.E. Conference Travel | 300 |
19 | Live demo videographer (at churches and conferences) | 1000 |
TOTAL | $25,575 |
