Haptics Haunted House

PalmScape 1

Overview

The PalmScape1 is a haptics device engineered by Dr. Hong Z. Tan, designed to simulate a handful of physical sensations when a user places their palm gently over the four central censors. Although the device was originally intended to produce a positive experience for users, Dr. Tan challenged our UX team to do the opposite...and turn it into a haunted house.

My Role

UX Team Lead, Story Architect, Storyboard Artist, Video Editor

Core Question

How could the PalmScape1 be repurposed from its original "soothing" context into a creepy Halloween haunted house experience?

Early Ideation Method: Sketch Diaries

Objective: Explore potential 'haunted house' scenarios through sketch explorations of human fears and how to evoke them.

Description
Over the course of a week, team members created 3-5 sketches daily, exploring various fears, phobias, sensations, and how to recreate them.

Results
Team members were able to identify the project's key limitations, and used them to narrow down potential spooky scenarios.

Sample Sketches from Sketch Diaries

Identified Limitations

Device

Device availability
Limited, pre-programmed haptics signals
Device fragility

Site

Limited space
Pre-determined location
Short setup and take-down windows

Volunteers

Limited number of volunteers
Volunteers with erratic scheduling

Our Solution: Designing a Fake Seance

Historical photo courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons.

What is a seance?
Seances are attempts to contact the souls of the departed with the guidance of a supernaturally gifted spiritual medium. They were popularized during the Spiritualist movement of the 1800s, and although many of the self-proclaimed mediums were later proven as frauds, the practice still persists in the American consciousness (source).

Why a seance?

Replicating the stationary nature of seances reduced the risk of damage to the PalmScape1 through jostling and movement
The seance could be crafted into a single participant experience, reducing the workload and physical space required to
The American mysticism surrounding seances subtly primed participants to suspend disbelief and accept the PalmScape1 as a spiritual artifact rather than a scientific instrument

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Disclaimer
The manufactured seance was publicly stated to be a fabricated experience, intended for Halloween entertainment only. No genuine attempts to contact the spirit world were made over the course of the project, by team members or their informed participants.

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User Testing: Orchestrating a Seance

Seance user journey map

Based on early ideation and secondary research, the team began building out a complete narrative. Even with the rough outline provided by the user journey map, individual components required several iterations of usability testing to ensure that they could actually be implemented.
This testing was comprised of three different objectives.

Testing Objective 1: Iterate rapidly on the script based when synced with the PalmScape1

Description
Participants were asked to close their eyes as one team member read from the script, while another triggered appropriate haptic signals. Afterwards, participants were asked to provide constructive feedback on their experience.

Results
Participants found the experience engaging, and suggested a couple of adjustments to improve the overall flow and coordination of the script.

Testing Objective 2: Determine the viability and effectiveness of set pieces to be used in accordance with the PalmScape1

Description
A series of 'mystery boxes' were constructed by team members, each filled with a different substance (wet cotton balls, jello, cooked rice, etc...). Participants were asked to place their hands in each of the mystery boxes, and then rank them against several descriptors (gross, creepy, etc...).

Results
Messy substances were deemed unusable in the final project. The users indicated that after the messy substances, the wet cotton balls provided the most alien and uncomfortable experience.

Testing Objective 3: Create and test a low-fidelity experience based on the results of the previous objectives.

Description
Based on the previous results, the script was revised and integrated with the additional set pieces. This iteration of the experience was then tested in a more effective environment, and participants were again asked for feedback.

Results
Participant feedback was used to finalize the script, as well as informed recommendations to the engineering team concerning the construction of the full set.

Script draft (sample)

Testing the script against the PalmScape1 haptics device

UX Deliverables

User research and recommendations
Storyboards and animatic displaying the overarching experience for the engineering team
Polished video for the public demo

Bringing the Haunted House to Life

Halloween 2019 saw the collaboration of the UX and engineering teams to bring the Haptics Haunted House to life.
Several dozen participants had the opportunity to experience the fake seance, which used an updated version of the video, combined with the PalmScape1, and a few additional haptics devices to enhance the experience.

Data gathered from this project was submitted and accepted to the Haptics Symposium 2020. Prior to the cancellation of the conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Haptics Haunted House was scheduled as a demo at the poster show.

Service Design