ELIXIR
Research, Identity Design, UI/UX, Virtual Reality & More
Healthcare & High Tech (Virtual Reality)
Duration / 14 months
Mentors / SAIC Graduate Projects – Ideation & Branding: Jacob Ristau, Robert E Petrick; Branding & Applications: Georgia Bockos; Execution & User Testing: Maura Frana; Virtual Reality Design & Programming: Ava Mirage Wanbli.
Tools/Research / Hinge Health & Oculus Existing Structure; Branding: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign; Virtual Reality: Unity, Meta Quest, Character Building & Motion: Rokoko Suits, Mixamo. User Testing: SAIC Faculty & Students.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Elixir is a cutting-edge digital healthcare institution that leverages the power of virtual reality and the fastest motion detector simulation software technology to improve musculoskeletal pain. With Elixir, you can receive physical therapy from the comfort of your own home, no matter where you are in the world. Our goal is to not only enhance your physical health but also improve your mental willpower and engagement skills in your everyday life.
At Elixir, we believe in crafting a highly personalized and innovative way of doing physical therapy that improves our client’s engagement like never seen before. Through in-depth research into Hinge Health and Oculus, I developed a new set of business modules and strategies that drove inspiration and conceptual ideas from these two companies, resulting in a brand-new meaning, business model, and design. This has led to the prime optimization of their amalgamation, resulting in the birth of Elixir.
The name Elixir comes from the alchemical substance known as the Elixir of immortality or life. Just like the miraculous substance, our institution’s goal is to heal an ailing person and alleviate pain from their body through physical therapy. Moreover, Elixir is a functional, concurrent, general-purpose programming language that runs on the BEAM virtual machine. It is a well-known term in the digital programming and gaming world, providing us with a dual advantage.
As of May 2023, Elixir has a structured branding identity system, along with an app-based solution. Furthermore, Elixir is now a game in Quest II that users can use to experience different scenes built in the memories of my late grandfather, who had Parkinson’s. I wish Elixir existed when doctors said there was no cure for Parkinson’s.
RESEARCH PROCESS
I strongly believe that intentionally or unintentionally our personal experiences and struggles shape our practices as designers. The majority of my past two years were spent in hospitals, emergency rooms, and catering to life threatening surgeries from India. However, the bitter struggles brought me to where I am now and helped me find my purpose as an MFA Student and a designer.
My projects focus on using high tech, virtual reality, and design to betterment mind-body relationships affiliated with mental and physical health and in turn to betterment human experiences holistically. Primarily focusing on diseases that have resonated with me on a personal level. Namely Parkinson’s, anxiety, gallbladder stones, etc.
Today I would like to introduce you all to ELIXIR. The initial task I had assigned myself under the guidance of Jacob Ristau was to find new ways of research when it comes to identity design systems. To examine the business models and pre-existing brand identity systems from a range of mid-size companies in different industries which I felt passionately about.
After narrowing down from hundreds of companies to two companies in drastically different fields which resonated with me–hinge health and oculus I chose to conduct more research and find out about the missing gap in the market and how I could help create a brand-new company that is not only an amalgamation of these two companies but one which introduces aspects never seen before.
Next, I worked with Robert Petrick on the completion of the company’s heavy research and initial branding sketches. Robert helped me a notch further to think outside of the box and pushed me to think in ways in which branding and design in business function, something which I am extremely passionate about. Georgia Bockos and I were on branding the different applications and narrowing down the brand guidelines for Elixir.
The past year I have worked on Elixir alongside Maura Frana and the Art and Tech department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, to expand and bring Elixir to life. It is now a Virtual Reality game code and built in Unity which users can play in Quest II, in the comfort of their homes across the world. In the summer of 2023, I will be working with Piotr to expand on building the scenes in the game and have it completed to present for my final thesis MFA show in the spring of 2024.
Elixir is the amalgamation of two different companies one being a digital physical therapy company called hinge health and the other being Oculus.
(Please refer to the eBook version below to view all research on the contents list or request for the full pdf version of the elixir research document via email.)
ELIXIR RESEARCH DOCUMENT
Selected Spreads from Elixir Research Document
ELIXIR IDENTITY DESIGN
ELIXIR VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE
During my time conducting surveys and research in the healthcare industry, I was reminded of my grandfather’s battle with Parkinson’s, which ultimately led to his passing. Despite the grim prognosis, the moments we shared playing games over Facetime gave us hope. It was during this period that I realized I wanted to create something personal yet universal. Thus, the idea for Elixir was born.
Working alongside Maura Frana, I enrolled in a virtual reality course and spent the past three months teaching myself new softwares, coding, animator building, 3D scanning, and using rokoko motion tracking technology. The goal was to create a virtual reality game that encouraged physical therapy in patients based on my personal memories with my grandfather. The game’s universal objective is to provide augmented visual and auditory feedback to gradually challenge postural control and balance during tasks, improve motion and movement kinematics, muscular function, range of motion, and ultimately increase physical activity levels and improve balance and cognitive functions.
I am proud to have taken this project to the next level and to have created something that has a personal impact while also being universally applicable.
CHARACTER ANIMATION & BUILDING
ELIXIR VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE SCENES
USER TESTING, FEEDBACK & NEXT STEPS!
After conducting multiple rounds of user testing and presentations, I received valuable feedback from people ranging from their 20s to their 80s. I discovered that younger patients were more eager to experience the virtual reality world, while older patients were hesitant at first. To address this, I plan to create a community field within the virtual reality space where viewers can bond with other characters and have physical therapy sessions. This will create a sense of belonging and comfort for older patients. Another valuable feedback was to create a familiar aesthetic within the game that feels both dated and futuristic, which I will work on this summer with Piotr Michura.
I also plan to work on creating safe spaces for individuals with Parkinson’s who are at different levels of the disease. Even if they do not have a person accompanying them, I want them to feel safe to move around without feeling threatened to lose balance or become overwhelmed. This can be achieved by creating different stages of the game where they can sit on the couch and move their limbs or take a few steps in a safe built environment. Moving forward, I will continue to conduct user testing and refine the experience to provide maximum healthcare benefits for my MFA thesis show in the spring of 2024 at The School of the Institute of Chicago.