Hello, I'm Rashan 🙂 and I'm currently a rising Senior at Skidmore College (NY) planning to double major in Computer Science and International Affairs. When I am asked what I want to do in life, my answer is always "I want to use Technology to change the world!" I made my first game at "Hack The Planet" last year in San Francisco, and learnt about VR by attending the Game Developer's Conference this year as an Xbox scholar. As a result, I am really excited to be apart of the Launchpad program, and can't wait to work on my prototype!
Overview:
Many donation campaigns today ask for money, but how often does the donor get to see exactly where their money went, or the direct impact their contribution made? DirectDonate will allow users to donate their money to assets and causes they can see in VR, and receive updates when their donation has been physically added in the real world.
Delivery - Example of a non-profit classroom:
The goal would be to have a 360 image of a classroom rendered, and the user donates to the classroom by placing various objects such as chairs, desks, books, boards in the classroom image. As they place these objects (before or after) they will see the cost for each thing they place in the classroom.
In addition, there could be images/videos of students in the classroom, and the user could donate money directly to the student. The 360 video/images will be updated at the non-profit on a regular basis to allow users to see if their donated items have arrived into the classroom.
Vision:
I can see this app being used at various events where financially able persons willing to help others around the world get to do so in a very interactive way. Imagine being able to rebuild a house torn down by a hurricane on the other side of the world with a group of friends in a VR headset. The aim is to use technology to get as much financial aid to those in need around the world.
Currently in Stage 1: Learn/Explore
Currently I am enrolled in a Coursera program in Game Development, where I am learning technical skills in Unity, as well as other skills such as Story Boarding and idea development. For the prototype, due to limited resources, a 3D model using Maya and Unity will be used to create example environments for donations.
It is an interesting idea. What would also be great is a way to incorporate visualization of nonmaterial results. Many people like to donate for "things", much harder to get people to donate for intangible things like supporting an artist's ability not to work two jobs, but I think you could certainly come up with a way to visualize this.
