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Siheyuan
Santa Clara University Virtual Reality Capstone Project

Categories: Virtual Reality, Education, Chinese Language Learning, 3D Modeling
Programs Used: Autodesk Maya, Fusion 360, Blender, Unity

How does a second language learner learn as if its their native language? Siheyuan is an exploration of using the immersive capability of virtual reality to allow students to experience the language and culture without direct translations.

By observing two siblings going about their daily life in their family’s ‘siheyuan’, a traditional Chinese style of family home complex, second language learners are able to learn words through context and actions. This mimics how first languages are picked up by children, through the interactions of family members and simply observing the world around them.

The style of Siheyuan mixes 3D environment models with 2D animation, allowing the animation to stand out as the visual definitions of the words shown above their heads.

Bird’s eye view of the Siheyuan complex

Animated/visual definition of the character “餓“（hungry）

Calligraphy 2.0
NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program Thesis

Categories: Virtual Reality, Education, Chinese Language Learning, 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, Creative Technology
Programs Used: Autodesk Maya, Fusion 360, Blender, Unity

The Chinese written language is one of the hardest languages to learn due to its complex character system. As memorization through the repeated copying of characters is an essential part of learning, Calligraphy2.0 aims to supplement this practice by allowing students to engage their entire body through giant calligraphy. Just as its name suggests, giant calligraphy is the art form of drawing larger-than-life characters with either ink on carpet-sized paper, or with water on concrete. I was able to bring that same physicality into VR by creating a custom giant brush controller with the same range of movement a real brush has, which draws in real time inside the VR environment.

By following the correct stroke order shown by examples to draw the characters, users use their entire body rather than just fine motor movement of their hand to maneuver the human-sized brush controller, encouraging learning retention through muscle memory.

The 3D environment also allows "location-based learning", which immerses students in a part of Chinese culture to encourage learning more than just direct vocabulary definitions/translations. A white box version of a ‘tulou’, a traditional Chinese architecture that housed whole villages in one building. This demo also reuses the visual definitions I first created for my first iteration of Chinese learning in VR, Siheyuan, to encourage learning the meaning of the words themselves not just through direct translation but also observation and context.

Calligraphy2.0

Player #1 Demo drawing the character “玩“

1st iteration of brush head model, with the VR controller placed just above the head of the brush.

Ball & spring allowed pressure sensitivity on the VR controller trigger.

2nd iteration of brush head, VR controller moved to top of brush.

3D Print configuration

Player #2 Demo drawing the character “玩“

Full brush view vs player view of character stroke order reference, brush, and drawn character

Virtual “Tulo” Environment, view of demo inside the headset

Giant Brush and VR headset components