Yutong Zhang and I have both had the experience of going to a foreign country with limited understanding of the language. At California College of the Arts, there are many international students who it is their first time studying in the United States. Our goal was to create an experience that helps students and professors better understand what it can feel like being in a class with a limited ability to communicate.

 

This Virtual Reality Experience was largely based on Yutong's experience at her Undergraduate University and supplemental research on what English sounds like to non English speakers. We wanted the user to feel like they could understand just enough to have a general sense of what was going on, but not enough to feel like they could respond when asked a question.

 

The title "......" stands for the awkward moment of silence often experienced with a language barrier. We believe this virtual reality experience could be an effective HR tool to help build empathy. The project was created using Unity, After Effects, and InstaVR.