In discussing my research report, I noticed several areas of growth over the summer period that I had not thought of before, both in terms 0f the maturity of my project from the proposal period as well as in my own skills as a learner.
Firstly, I have become less afraid to rethink and redevelop my research question when need be – something I saw as an act of failure before. Even now, when I have my final research question ready to be tested, the tutorials have brought up considerations/ alternate versions of my question that improve the quality of my research. My current question of “How can the incorporation of familiar naturalistic elements within abstract artificial environments be used within Virtual Reality- based mindfulness platforms to enhance immersion?” is perceived as a bit of a leading question to my tutorial group – as though I have already answered it within the question.
Hence, I will need to work on restructuring the question into one that facilitates open- ended research.
Redrafts (Work in progress):
- How can virtual reality based mindfulness experiences increase immersion through access?
- How can VR based mindfulness platforms enhance immersion?
- How can stylised naturalistic elements enhance immersion within virtual reality-based mindfulness platforms?
Second, I have also made more of an effort to answer the “why” of my intervention, in terms of the need for the project.
- I want users to have autonomy and agency in mindfulness than an experience that is completely directive (gap in market)
- I want to use VR mindfulness as a viable alternative to traditional mindfulness – an alternative for users who are more visual and need an immersive experience to feel like it’s making a difference
- I want to create an experience that lets users have capacity and access to alternate mindfulness tools that exist outside of what is already available. (relating to my research proposal, I want to challenge the “one size fits all” market by tapping into an area that is beginning to be adopted by the mainstream mindfulness industries).
Due to the collaborative nature of my project, I have also become better at project management, time management, and setting deadlines for each aspect of my intervention – something I had not expected in the earlier stages of the project.
During our tutorial, it was discussed that my next steps would be to work on distributing the ownership of my project due to its collaborative nature, as well as on the questionnaire for participants following the experience.
Questionnaire notes:
- using https://www.mentimeter.com/
- 5-10 questions
- Mix of multiple choice and open ended
- Developing my own scale