After nearly a year of seeing each other trapped in digital rectangles on countless video calls, we needed to kick off 2021 by doing something different. Something to reconnect us all.
Here was our idea: Send 300 Oculus Quest VR headsets to all BUCK employees around the world. Then, organize a company-wide party in VR, complete with a live DJ, an art gallery, games, a keynote presentation, virtual cocktails, and fireworks. Oh, and build the world for that party from scratch.
Virtual is Reality
Montage - Buck VR Holiday Party
VR friends
Montage - Buck VR Holiday Party
Cool. But why VR?
Virtual reality is surprisingly powerful stuff. Even though you are consciously aware that you're in a virtual world, the reptile part of your brain isn't. This creates a sense of presence and explains why VR works so well for things that are hard to convey via chest-up 2D video chat. VR also helps us regain things lost by not being in the office together:
— Watercooler moments of social connection
— Trust-building
— Work/life/home balance
— New creative opportunities
Team
Design Process
We wanted the environment to feel positive, warm, and playful. In the early sketch phase, we discovered that we loved filling the virtual world with warm, all-encompassing, undulating gradients. We also did a lot of experimenting with soft forms and structures. Using saturated gradients as a sky-scape and a sculpture garden of playful shapes and iconic Buck characters, we focused on feelings of optimism and fun as we continued to explore.
Design Process
Unity — Environment (real-time)
Characters
Unity — Gradient/Mood (real-time)
VR Sculpting & CG Modeling
As a tool, VR played a big part in the creative production process. Not only was the landscape sculpted in VR, we held review sessions in VR. We had lunch in VR. We even showered in VR. (Spoiler: not the same.) We pulled off things that would be difficult or impossible at an in-person event, like hanging out with giant animated characters or launching fireworks into your friend's face.
Adobe Medium — VR Sculpting
Autodesk Maya — Modeling
Live DJ — @NoMasTomas
Gallery — 300 people wearing Oculus Quest VR headsets.
