Co‑Designing and Learning in Virtual Reality: Development of Tool for Alcohol Resistance Training

Abstract

This paper presents the design process of a Danish educational virtual reality (VR) application for alcohol prevention. Denmark is one on the countries in Europe with the highest alcohol consumption among adolescents. Alcohol abuse is a risk factor for a variety of diseases and contributes as a significant factor to motor vehicle accidents. The application offers first‑hand experiences with alcohol in a safe environment. This is done by simulating a party situation using 125 different 360‑degree movie sequences and displaying it in a virtual reality headset. The users create their own experience through a choose your own adventure game experience. The experience is designed to acquire skills for recognizing and handling peer pressure, which has been found to be one of the main reasons for drinking initiation. These skills are acquired though experimental learning. The application is a product of a co‑design process involving 10 students (aged 18‑28) studying film making and game design at Askov Folk High School (a special kind of Danish boarding school without exams for young adults), Denmark, their teachers, alcohol experts from social services and researchers with expertise within health promotion, social marketing, VR, interaction design and game development. Additionally, 35 students from Askov Boarding School (aged 15‑17) participated as actors and extras. This article contributes to research within development of 360‑degree video applications for experimental learning with a practical example. The iterative design process of the application, containing exploration of key concepts, concept design, prototype design, pre‑usability testing, innovation design and usability test is described, as well as our reflections on virtual experimental learning in the application.