AJ's Portfolio

A Soul's Ascent

Immersive VR Experience

A Soul's Ascent is an immersive interactive experience that invites participants to witness the final moment of their life and what comes just after. As the heartbeat fades, you awaken in a surreal, fog-drenched limbo where time feels suspended and soft rain whispers across the empty expanse. Around you, glowing orbs float gently in the mist fragments of your memories, waiting to be discovered. Each orb you touch releases a deeply personal soundscape from all emotions (Joy, Sad, Regret, Anger).

Defy is an innovative, crypto-based application designed to revolutionize the way users interact with digital currencies. The app features 3D avatar profiles, which users can personalize and upgrade using their earned rewards, adding an element of fun and personalization to the crypto experience.

The experience was created as a course project for my Immersive Experience Design elective, which I took during my second semester. It was presented to the public in Mesa, AZ, at the ASU MIX Center.

Defy offers a comprehensive suite of crypto functionalities, making it a true crypto super app. Users can buy, send, swap, receive, and trade cryptocurrencies within the platform.

TIMELINE

Feb - Apr 2025

TEAM

Allan Jerrold

Gaurang Jadhav

TOOLS

Unity 2022

Meta Quest 3

Blender

DISCIPLINES

Immersive Art

User Research

XR Experinec

Interactive VR Design

Glimpse of the Experience

Check out the promotional video for this experience it offers a glimpse into the atmosphere, emotions, and interactions you’ll encounter.

User research

Every individual has their own understandings and expectation of how an After Life experience should

Every individual has their own understandings and expectation of how an After Life experience should look like based on their own personal understandings and learnings from religion or philosophy or even creativity. To understand such personal expectation, user interviews from diverse belief group has been conducted.

User Interviews (Peak through)

Access interview

Hal

MS in Computer science

"I believe after we die our souls are reborn into new born bodies"

Jessica

MS in Computer science

"Honestly nothing happens after we die, I believe our brain activity stops"

Frank

MS in Computer science

"I believe after we die, either we end up in a nothingness or we go to a place that is familiar to us"

Goal

The aim is to create a calm end-of-life experience and a transition to a limbo, or life-after-life, experience with elements that connect the user to their past life.

Script for the experience

Based on interviews with diverse audiences, we created a script that meets most expectations.

The user awakens in a hospital, realizing they are on their deathbed as the monitor flatlines and a loud heartbeat echoes before everything fades;

They open their eyes to a vast limbo where glowing spheres hold memories of their life, a weathered book beside them tells their story.

In the distance stands a mysterious door whose destination remains unknown, ending in suspense.

Interactions

The experience consists of multiple interactions implemented in Unity using C#.

Results

The VR art experience was designed for everyone and presented to Mesa, AZ public at the MIX Center, ASU.

Target audiences

1) Public

These people lives near ASU MIX Center, visiting the center to participate in community engagement.

11-60

AGE GROUP

500

VISITORS COUNT

VISITORS ENGAGED

MOTIVATIONS

Explores new technologies in their free time to assess potential personal or business benefits.

PAINPOINT

Unfamiliar with VR headset

Motion sickness

2) ASU students

Students who took class related to immersive experience in MIX center or planning to take and seeking opportunities for networking.

17-25

AGE GROUP

200

VISITORS COUNT

VISITORS ENGAGED

MOTIVATIONS

Experience Immersive experience and to see outcomes in course work of students enrolled in multiple immersive related courses

PAINPOINT

Time constraint

Waiting time

Future aspects

The aim is to create a calm end-of-life experience and a transition to a limbo, or life-after-life, experience with elements that connect the user to their past life.

Project Takeways

Working on Soul’s Ascent was an extraordinary learning experience in extended reality, guided by the mentorship of our professor, and it provided a valuable opportunity to present our work to the public.

XR Interaction

This project involved few XR interactions to make the experience more immersive