Week 2: Starting Off Lost and Still Relaxed

Updated: Aug 6, 2023

Week 2: 24/07-30/07

Monday class: 24/07

The lecture from the sustainability stream was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She had some great points and advice which I wrote down and want to keep in mind for the remainder of my project. Majority of the lecture will be difficult to apply to my project.
We were missing Mairi due to covid which was inconvenient as I missed the week ones classes and wanted to discuss the assignment with her. Obviously this was out of everyones control and just reminded me how flexible I need to be.
Roy took us to his computing lab and this was very useful. I was able to test out a VR headset and AR headset to get a better understanding of what each technological outcome would look like. This actually helped me to realise I need to be using VR. I was also able to get an understanding of key aspects included in VR like setting an area boundary if you are walking and being active.
I left still feeling quite lost on what to do for the assignments coming up so I dedicated my time to learning VR. I ensured I had the correct software downloaded and did tutorials to practice using the unity software. I soon realised how time consuming the VR crafting process will be and so I have made notes to ensure I give myself lots of time to work on this portion of the project.
I am enjoying the ongoing learning of VR
At this point in time I was not too stressed out about being behind and unsure of what I should be doing because I kept productive with the VR lessons.

Thursday class: 27/07

The Thursday session was helpful as it allowed me time to sit with my peers and do work and discuss ideas. I gained a better understanding of the assignments and what I was missing for assignment 2. I was also able to run my idea past Mairi and get her opinion on what my Miro board was missing. I did find our conversation could have been more direct and thus shorter so I can better utilise my time and this is something I will try to guide going further.
From this class session I was able to plan out the remaining tasks my board requires and set my week 3 tasks up with plenty of time.

Weekend: 28/07-30/07

This weekend after trying to learn VR more I decided that my original plan was too ambitions and I would not be able to create anything that met my scope well enough. After some brainstorming I came to the conclusion that VR, Depression, Maori youth and Maori Culture were the key aspects of my project I wanted to maintain and began brainstorming a project pathway from these themes.
This was a particularly difficult process as I didn’t have research to support idea generation. I only realised this upon reflection that I should of researched my key themes more to support the brainstorming process.
I did decide on utilising the practice of Rakau, the tossing of wooden sticks, to connect the user to Maori culture through a VR game in an effort to reduce depressive symptoms.
Further research has be scheduled to be conducted to properly understand the practice ignorer to implement it correctly.
Again, changing my idea caused my no stress even though it created more work for myself. I am attributing this to my excitement and interest in the new idea which I am hoping will be maintained throughout the remainder of the project to help motivate me through the more difficult weeks.

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