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Facilitating Bioscience Research Recruitment with Immersive WebVR Technology

Team VitaSync

Time frame:

Jan - Apr

Role:

3D modeler

UI/UX Designer

Project type:

WebVR design

Team Project

WebVR link:

https://shiroakki.github.io/SI699-UMTRI/

Abstract

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) conducts biosciences research that collects data on body shape, body size, strength, etc. Data is used to develop and set safety standards for products like clothing, protective equipment, and medical devices. Our project is to create a tool that allows users to navigate the lab space and “see” the tasks in biosciences research in a virtual environment that resembles the real study space.

UMTRI Bioscience Research

Let's imagine you are a parent attending a community event with your child. Amid the festivities, an institute researcher approaches you with a warm smile and invites both you and your child to participate in an exciting bioscience research study focused on child strength.

After receiving a flyer and listening to the researcher explain the Child Strength Study, you find yourself intrigued but uncertain about how the study will be conducted. Both you and your child are interested, but your child keeps asking for details about what the study involves. You realize it's difficult to explain because you are also not completely sure about the specifics of the study.

Problem Framing

User-centered Design Process

Ambiguous Goal

1. How can we facilitate bioscience recruitment?

2. How can we increase the general public’s interest in body studies?

Stakeholder Interviews

What are the barriers to recruitment?

The general public does not fully understand how they are conducted

Do not know what activities are involved

“Once the participants signed up and completed one study, they are like the tasks are so straightforward, do you have other studies I can join’?”

How can we facilitate recruitment by helping the public see and experience the tasks and lab space?

UMTRI Lab Field Trip

After meeting with the researchers, we visited the UMTRI lab to observe how the experiment was conducted. We aimed to identify opportunities to help participants better understand the bioscience research and to increase public interest in the study.

Body scan device

Jump test

Pull & push child strength test

Instruction pamphlets

Under the guidance of two research coordinators, we experienced how the ongoing studies—Child Strength Study and Body Shape Study—were conducted. The coordinators demonstrated how participants are introduced to the experiment and how they interact with the lab devices to complete it.

Takeaways from the field trip

Study tasks for participants are very straightforward

One study involved multiple activities and equipments

Equipments are reused by different studies

Insights

There are great opportunities for us to engage the general public's interest in studies by giving them a glimpse into the lab space and visualizing the task process

Brainstorm Solution

After identifying the client's needs and the current situation, we started brainstorming the solutions. The big idea is to visualize the lab space to spark the general public's interest in biosciences research and give them a sense of the tasks.

WebVR technology

Why WebVR?

Cost-effective & Scalability

WebVR eliminates infrastructure investment, runs on various devices, and lowers development and maintenance costs.

Immersive environment

Users can easily walk through the virtual lab space to interact with the equipment and see how the tasks are conducted.

Interactiveness

WebVR provides interactive features that enable users to engage with devices, offering a hands-on experience to understand how they function

Ideation

Use case scenario

1. In-person recruitment (At a community event etc.)

UMTRI has set up a booth at an event to familiarize people with its work and encourage participation in their research studies.

When people are curious about what it’s like to participate in the study, we offer them the chance to view our developed WebVR experience and learn more about UMTRI research facilities.

Users enter the WebVR environment to freely explore laboratory spaces and study settings, observing the impact after participating in the study.

2. Online recruitment (Social Media ads etc.)

UMTRI posted specific study recruitment information on an online platform. People are wondering how the study was conducted and what research equipment was used.

At this time, we can attach the WebVR link for people to familiarize themselves with the research study and lab space.

As users enter the space, equipment not currently utilized in the study is greyed out. This allows users to gain a general understanding of the tasks involved in the specific study.

They can always navigate back to the standard research space and interact with other study facilities as needed.

Sketch of the WebVR environment

Here is a sketch of the entire experience from a top view.
(The actual perspective could be imagined as if we are the figure depicted in purple in the sketch.)

Upon entering the VR environment, users see a "Welcome to UMTRI" sign with engagement instructions.
The VR environment mirrors UMTRI's lab layout, though room layouts differ slightly from the actual ones.
Each room hosts a study with equipment positioned and studies in progress.
Users can explore ongoing research and interact with equipment to learn about its functions and proper use.
Users can see how UMTRI utilizes collected data.
When focusing on a specific study, unused equipment is greyed out for clearer engagement.

Design solution

The journey begins by entering the WebVR environment

The first page of the WebVR tool is a welcome page that greets users and explains the purpose of the tool

After clicking the "ENTER SPACE" button, users receive instructions on how to navigate through the space.

Replicate the physical layout of the UMTRI lab space

To give users a better understanding of the UMTRI lab space, we replicated the physical layout of the lab and placed different entrances for different studies. Users can easily navigate through the hallway and enter the lab room by moving close to the glowing circle and the entrance button will pop up.

This layout also allows UMTRI to further expand the scale of this WebVR tool for future studies.

Provide immersive lab space environment

We reproduced each of the actual lab spaces and placed the device exactly like in the real lab setting. The glowing circle on the ground is leading users to come close and interact with the device.

On the bottom right we put a sign-up button with incentives addressed, trying to address users' interest in participating in the study.

Once entering the glowing circle, users will see an animated figure showing how to interact with each piece of equipment in the research study. For more detailed information, they can click on the side panel.

Based on our previous user interview, parents expressed concerns about equipment safety. A clear demonstration could alleviate their concerns when their children participate in the study.

Demo video

User testing

We have 5 users who tested the WebVR tool.

"It is a great way to know what to expect before you commit to participate.”

"The tool is very engaing"

Social Impact

Empower the general public to understand bioscience research and researchers to communicate bioscience research

Increase accessibility to research information for users with different literacy levels

Increases public engagement in scientific research endeavors

Provide a versatile solution that can be used in both online and in-person recruitment

Provide a scalable and cost-effective solution that can be used in large national study recruitment

Next Steps

Conduct more testing in diverse populations and iterate design based on feedback
Create documentation on how to maintain and update the tool for UMTRI’s developer team