CalmVR

⚡ Inspiration

We were inspired to make this VR app after seeing that there were very few apps in VR which were focused on immersion and calmness. Thus, we wanted to create something which would bring the incredible immersive power of VR in the domain of mental health and wellness.

🧐 What it does

Imagine that in one moment you are at the foothills of the Himalayas and in the next moment you are at the beaches of Fiji hearing the calm ocean waves. This is exactly what Calm VR does, giving you a 360° view of calm nature locations around the world with a full immersive visual and auditory experience. Not just that, it also has the option of being a great tool for meditation, with built-in tutorials and instructions, taking you away from the hustles and bustles of life, such that when one opens their eyes they are not surrounded by things that cause stress, but rather magnificent landscapes. It is a great app for escaping your current stressors and helping with therapy without spending a ton of money. A cost-effective tool to help with your mental health available to you anytime.

🧱 How we built it

We used the Unity Engine to design the backgrounds and other immersive elements like falling leaves and fireflies. In this we used C# to design the interfaces as well as the transitions and virtual buttons. Along with the SteamVR Library to design other minor elements. We also created a website using React showcasing our app as well the different backgrounds used.

💢 Challenges we ran into

We ran into a lot of challenges in Unity as it had problems with transitions and interfaces. This ultimately resulted in us having less features than we would have liked, but still the product and its use case was solid.

🏅 Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the different immersive landscape scenes that we were able to create especially the night nature scenes with different auditory cues and visuals like fireflies. Along with the general VR interface that were were able to create like the menus, options and transitions. We are also proud of our amazing website that showcased our product with its benefits and features. But, what we are most proud of is that fact that we were able to do this even though we did not have a lot of experience with Unity and in a very small amount of time.

🧠 What we learned

We learned how to come up with powerful ideas which are not just beneficial but also doable and scalable. We also got very familiar with Virtual reality and Unity as well as how to code in it effectively. As well as a huge leap in our React and Web Development experience. Lastly, we also learnt how to pitch our idea effectively such that not just us but other can also be excited about what we are creating.

🚀 What's next for CalmVR

We would love to increase the amount of landscapes that our VR app currently has, along with making our current ones more immersive. We would also add AI optionality in it which may sense what landscapes you like in order to personalize your experience to make it much more immersive. Another great addition would be a multiplayer mode where you can enjoy beautiful landscapes with another person for a much more immersive experience compared to just a video call. All-in-all the additions to what we have made can be countless but it also means that there is still much more to come!