Rumba Trainer VR

Role: Solo Developer

Team: Skye Winters

Development Period: October 2024 - December 2024

Software: Unity, OpenXR, and Motion Builder

Core Questions: What solutions can be developed to increase ballrooms accessibilities to dancers not located near professional coaches or who can't afford expensive private lessons? Can VR effectively be used to teach partner dancing? Can a narrative help assist with the learning process of ballroom dancing?

Overview:

Learn how to dance a rumba in Rumba Trainer VR! This is an experiemental project that I worked on in the Autumn of 2024 where I explored the potential for VR to serve as a platform to convey instructions in how to dance. The final prototype included 12 different lessons made up of a lesson on Frame, the Basic, a New Yorker, a Shoulder to Shoulder, a Cucaracha, and a Spot Turn for both the lead and follow parts. Additionally, it contains a story building engine to quickly expand the story of the game and a feedback system for seeing how well you stayed connected with your partner! Overall, it was an interesting chance to explore combing my love of VR and my love of dance!

Methodology:

Please refer to my blog post "A Reflection on the VR Rumba Trainer Application found at https://skyewinters16.wixsite.com/skye-winters/post/a-reflection-on-the-vr-rumba-trainer-application

Takeaways:

Through my work on this project I was able to gain a better grasp of the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in VR for ballroom dancing. Additionally, what hurdles currently exist with the technology that makes doing so challenging. For example, due to the method I used for motion capture, I ran into a large hurdle of trying to make a dynamic move sequence that could change the order of a chain of ballroom steps randomly. One reason for this was the vast number of unique leads connecting different moves to one another. As a result, it was difficult to create a generalizable solution that could allow for ease of expanding to add the large number of different moves in ballroom. Finally, through this project, I was able to discover my interest in NPC relationships with players and be able to take my first steps towards creating a narrative driven VR game.

Credits: POLYGON Town Pack by Synty and POLYGON Fantasy Kingdom by Synty