The Faubourg à M’lasse : A time travelling VR Experience

Aim of the projet

In 1963, the working-class neighbourhood of the faubourg à M'lasse was destroyed during one of the greatest periods of economic and cultural change in the city of Montreal. More than 5000 residents were evicted and saw their homes, businesses and schools destroyed in this monumental project.

As part of a partnership between Concordia University and Ubisoft studio, I contributed to the creation of a virtual reality experience with the objective of immersing the public in this disappeared community and to preserve its memory.

In this VR experience, you can explore an apartment of the Faubourg of the 1960s, historically accurate publications, radio music, television footage, photographs and many other daily life items of the era.

To learn more : Integrating Virtual Reality in Higher Education: The Faubourg à m’lasse

Target Audience
35 000+ undergrad student community

Genre
VR Game

Institution
Concordia University

Date
2019-2020

Crédits: Faubourg à m’lasse VR (eConcordia), Concordia Univeristy. | Archives de la Ville de Montréal.

My role

Learning Experience Designer

Employer: eConcordia

Skills used in this project

Plan set, objects and audio/video content based on archival research
Narrative Design & Writing
Design and document game mechanics
Overview of UX & UI design for VR
Overview Level Art
Audio mixing

Design Process

Narrative Design & Writing

The main need of this project was to tell the story of the neighbourhood and its residents. I wrote the texts that accompany the users throughout the experience, which allows them to be evaluated later in their sociology course.
Game Design

Our target audience includes students of all ages, and not everyone has the same comfort level with VR technology. I designed a system that allows users to interact with the content at their own pace in an approachable and accessible way, similar to an exhibition.
Research

The Faubourg à m'lasse experience is the result of extensive research in the archives of the City of Montreal. This includes, reference images for the 3D environment, testimonies of neighbourhood residents, objects and soundtrack from the time. With our sociology professor I found the visual, audio and video components that would be historically accurate and compelling to a contemporary audience.