Thaís Alvarenga is a...
creative technologist
developer
XR-AI researcher

Lately, I've been working on...

Road To Acceptance

Road to Acceptance is a gamified VR experience designed to raise awareness of the five stages of grief—Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance—through a fantasy narrative.

Players embody Eldevu, a bereaved husband who has destroyed the world in his grief and must restore it, symbolizing the act of accepting grief. 

The level design reflects the nonlinear nature of grief by allowing players to choose artifacts that unlock mini-games that engage the user in embodied interactions that thematically reinforce the stages of grief. Each mini-game features specific tasks explained through character musings (voiceovers) about what they are emotionally experiencing at each stage. 

The game leverages Virtual Reality Perspective Taking (VRPT) in a fantasy narrative to foster connection and understanding between the user and the story by allowing players to step into the character’s emotional journey.

An extended abstract on Road to Acceptance was published in the proceedings of the 2024 DiGRA Conference, where it was commended for the level design, use of fantasy to explore grief, and as a potential avenue for socio-emotional learning and mental health research.

Publication

Exhibitions

  • Alvarenga, Thais, and Amina Kobenova. "Road to Acceptance: A Gamified VR Narrative Journey Through the Stages of Grief." Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Playgrounds. 2024.
  • Thais Alvarenga, Amina Kobenova, Ons Taktak. "Road to Acceptance." NYUAD Fall 2021 Interactive Media Showcase. 2021.

Role: Programmer, Level Designer, Technical Artist. 

Technologies: Unity, Shapr3D, Oculus Quest 2, DaVinci Resolve

Team: Thaís Alvarenga, Amina Kobenova, Ons Taktak

Objectives for the interactions in each stage/scene mini-game.
Flowchart of the game logic.
Final environment layout
Layout of the areas/stages by color. Green bargaining. Red for anger. Black is depression. Purple for denial. Main lobby is orange.
Example of a completed stage: Denial
Ending scene of the restored world.

Level Design

This is a gray box prototype testing the scene load management system for each of the stages
A higher fidelity prototype of the lobby scene

3D Models

Turn around of the staff that player uses to navigate the stages
The staff hold spaces for the gems that serve as teleportation artifacts.
Above is one of the gem models
Model of the plinth.
Gate model

Animation

Animation introducing one of the interactable objects
One of the animations for the end of the world. Style was inspired by szin YouTube Channel.

Presentations and Exhibition Gallery