
This group project uses socio-emotional development techniques and music to create an engaging VR gaming experience aimed at facilitating learning of self-awareness and self-regulation skills in the classroom. Partnered with the Coschool organization, we wish to enhance their project-based learning initiative workshops carried out in public schools in the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia.
Using a rhythm gameplay approach, we want to create a highly experiential learning environment where players can experience musically enhanced emotional states to reflect on their emotional regulation and emotional literacy skills. In this virtual reality experience, users play the bongos while attempting to hit the notes in synch with a song. As the difficulty quickly escalates, both the music and environment aim to create a heightened emotional state. Once the player reaches the emotional peak, they are prompted to relax, reevaluate their reaching and try again. A second part of the experience allows the player to improvise and play to the bongos to a particular emotion, facilitating further reflection and understanding of its qualities. Several words that describe that primary emotion more specifically appear in the environment, allowing the player to identify and name the feeling experienced. This tool aims to create a practical introspection space for young teenagers and help teachers impart emotional lessons more effectively.
The difficulties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged us to reconceptualize the project and the workflow necessary for its completion while adding emphatic importance to the value of using digital platforms to communicate. It also brings into focus the need for socio-emotional education to help young people cope with the side effects of isolation and social distancing. Today’s socio-cultural climate serves to validate the importance of our research work and its aim of offering tools that bring benefit to people in need.
Contributions
- Conceptualization and Ideation: Laura Montenegro / Camila Bohorquez
- Unity Coding: Laura Montenegro, with the assistance of Mahdi Tounsi
- Assets and 3d modeling: Camila Bohorquez in Collaboration with Carlos Ferro
- Music Composition: Santiago Sarmiento
- Input and contributions on socio-emotional learning for teenagers by Coschool Colombia