Challenge

The plant, fittingly, wanted to give visitors a state-of-the-art VR learning experience that revealed what happens behind the scenes at this state-of-the-art treatment plant—processes that are normally inaccessible to the public. Their audience ranged widely: young students, curious adults, and technical trainees. The challenge was to communicate complex chemistry, mechanics, and infrastructure in a format that was engaging, intuitive, and appropriate for multiple levels of understanding.

Solution

Because the plant was still under construction, I pieced together its world from blueprints, on-site visits, engineering documents, and hours of learning the science. I translated that knowledge into information architecture, flowcharts, narrative sequences, and educational content. I worked with the art team to ensure each 3D structure felt accurate, and built the front-end of the world in Unity: animating its moving parts, shaping interactions, tuning sound cues, and guiding visitors through the labyrinth of processes.

With the world constructed, we designed the experience to meet each audience where they were, offering multiple ways to navigate and learn:

• Mouse and keyboard navigation for desktop-based exploration
• A contextual teleport button for point-and-jump movement with automatic camera orientation
• A prescribed learning pathway for younger or guided users
• Free-roam exploration for curious or advanced learners
• In-world text that is actually readable

Role

• UX/UI design for VR: interaction flows, layouts, information architecture
• Wrote modular educational content for three user groups
• Designed navigational systems including contextual sound cues with tuned rolloff
• Project management and coordination of programming + 3D art teams
• Unity world assembly, animation setup, shader adjustments, and interaction implementation
• Conducted subject-matter research to fill gaps in environmental and process knowledge
• Directed voiceover talent and integrated audio into the experience

Outcome

The finished prototype delivered a fully functional, immersive VR learning experience that explained wastewater treatment with clarity and depth. It transformed an unseen, complex process into something visitors of all ages could explore, understand, and remember.