Unpath'd Waters Navigator
Sept 2023 - current
Historic England
School of Simulation and Visualisation, HES, TANC, MOLA, University of St Andrews, University of Bradford, National Maritime Museum
The Unpath Navigator project is a co-designed immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience that allows users to explore and interact with integrated maritime heritage datasets.
The project addresses the lack of cross-disciplinary and cross-collection use of maritime datasets, alongside limited public access, which hinders broader engagement and research opportunities within the maritime heritage sector.
The project started with user research to pinpoint the needs of our target audiences. We worked closely with visually impaired individuals, rural community members, and maritime researchers through workshops and interviews. In-person workshops allowed us to observe VR interactions directly and gather both direct and indirect data, complementing our qualitative and quantitative feedback. We refined our approach by dividing the visually impaired participants into smaller groups for three-hour sessions, leading to more actionable insights.We made several accessibility adjustments during the research phase, including extra time for familiarizing participants with the physical space and VR equipment, avoiding visual ideation techniques, and providing pre-session written materials for assistive technology use. This careful approach ensured the VR tool was both accessible and engaging, benefiting all user groups and enhancing the final product.
Drawing from the research findings, I defined the project scope and user experience goals. This phase involved creating detailed user journeys, and experience maps to guide development. I developed a comprehensive roadmap in Miro and designed the user interface (UI) in Figma, ensuring that the design was aligned with accessibility standards and usability principles.
During the development phase, I created an initial prototype in Unity to explore and refine interaction paradigms and movement within the VR environment. Through iterative testing sessions with diverse user groups, including visually impaired participants, we gathered critical feedback that guided enhancements to the user experience. This iterative process led to the development of a refined second prototype, which more closely approached the final product. Synthetic data was utilized in this prototype to simulate information display, allowing us to fine-tune the product’s functionality and ensure a seamless and engaging user experience.
The Unpath Navigator was deployed as a public engagement tool through a touring exhibition, visiting over 10 maritime museums in the UK and the Isle of Man from May to September 2024. Utilizing Unity and Oculus Quest 2 headsets, the VR application showcased a unified maritime collection, searchable through a database of over 90,000 entries. This exhibition, organized by the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s Discovery Bus and the National Maritime Museum, demonstrated the Navigator's impact in improving access to maritime archives for researchers, the visually impaired, and non-coastal communities.
