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soul arcade
Virtual Reality
Immersive storytelling for queer and neurodiverse communities
Overview
Soul Arcade is an immersive VR storytelling experience that allows players to step into the first-person perspectives of queer and neurodivergent individuals. Instead of hearing about these experiences from the outside, players live through them—feeling the weight of each choice, the complexity of self-perception, and the emotional nuance of identity.
This project is designed as both an interactive narrative and an empathy-building tool which explores themes of coming out, body dysphoria, and mental health, offering a space where technology amplifies human connection rather than isolates it. (Also, it's my very first VR project!)
P.S. This case study focuses on the queer narrative experience.
01
Process
From research to prototyping, Soul Arcade evolved through an iterative, human-centered design process. The goal was to balance immersion with accessibility, ensuring that every aspect of the experience deepened engagement, emotional impact, and inclusivity.
Key steps in the process included:
- Global surveys and Interviews with queer and neurodivergent individuals to gather real-life perspectives.
- Sketching and storyboarding to conceptualize the experience before development.
- Prototyping in Unity to test mechanics, pacing, and emotional resonance.
- Player testing to refine interactions and optimize for impact, clarity, and comfort in VR.
What the process looked like for the most part:
02
Research
Extensive literature reviews and supporting research revealed that VR has been proven to enhance empathy by simulating first-person perspectives. Studies in neuroscience and human behavior suggest that embodying another’s experience—even briefly—can reshape biases and deepen understanding.
To ensure authenticity, Soul Arcade was built from real experiences. I conducted a worldwide survey with 182 participants (from every continent except Antarctica, mainly because penguins can’t type). The initial question I pursued was ‘What makes people truly care about others?’ This led me to narrowing down the scope to queer and neurodiverse communities as they are some of the most misunderstood individuals among the majority around the world.
Then I chose the path of participatory design and started interviewing the people around me who were part of these communities. I talked to about 12 people in Berkeley who came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and experiences. A simple consent form was written by me and I promised to protect their anonymity throughout the process and even beyond, as they shared with me deeply personal stories and parts of themselves.
Here are a few quotes I pulled from some of the interviews:
Extensive literature reviews and supporting research revealed that VR has been proven to enhance empathy by simulating first-person perspectives. Studies in neuroscience and human behavior suggest that embodying another’s experience—even briefly—can reshape biases and deepen understanding.
To ensure authenticity, Soul Arcade was built from real experiences. I conducted a worldwide survey with 182 participants (from every continent except Antarctica, mainly because penguins can’t type). The initial question I pursued was ‘What makes people truly care about others?’ This led me to narrowing down the scope to queer and neurodiverse communities as they are some of the most misunderstood individuals among the majority around the world.
Then I chose the path of participatory design and started interviewing the people around me who were part of these communities. I talked to about 12 people in Berkeley who came from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds and experiences. A simple consent form was written by me and I promised to protect their anonymity throughout the process and even beyond, as they shared with me deeply personal stories and parts of themselves.
Here are a few quotes I pulled from some of the interviews:
Some key takeaways from my research that shaped the experience:
Empathy is strongest when it’s interactive.
→ Giving players agency deepens their emotional investment.
Fear and self-perception shape reality.
→ The experience’s mirror mechanic represents the internal dialogue of self-acceptance and dysphoria.
Abstraction makes experiences more universal.
→ Paper cut-out characters allow players to project their own fears and emotions.
Identity isn’t a single moment—it’s a journey.
→ Experiences needed fluid transitions, choice-driven narratives, and evolving environments to reflect this.
Queer and neurodivergent experiences overlap in sensory perception.
→ The VR design had to visually and audibly reflect sensory overwhelm, anxiety, and isolation.
"Stepping into stories, rather than just hearing them."
Soul Arcade was designed to move beyond passive storytelling. Instead of watching someone’s journey unfold, the player actively participates, shaping their own path within the experience. So, it isn’t just ‘a game’—it’s an interactive reflection on self-identity, social perception, and human connection.
Core Design Principles:
🎭 Immersive Embodiment – Players don’t watch a story unfold; they live it, feel it, and shape it.
💡 Symbolic Environments – Instead of realism, Soul Arcade visualizes emotions through shifting spaces.
🎮 Player Choice & Perspective – The player’s decisions impact how the environment responds, reinforcing how identity is shaped by external and internal factors.
Here are some challenges I faced and how they were overcome:
Emotional weight vs. player comfort → Solution: Allow players to opt out of certain moments or pace their own journey.
Animating character emotions → Solution: Use lighting, static facial expressions, 2D movement, and environmental shifts to communicate feelings.
Creating an inclusive experience → Solution: Test with a diverse range of players and incorporate direct feedback into refinements.
No prior experience designing/developing for VR → Solution: Prototype fast, break things, learn how to fix problems as they arise and don't be afraid to ask for help when needed.
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03
Insights
Some key takeaways from my research that shaped the experience:
Empathy is strongest when it’s interactive.
→ Giving players agency deepens their emotional investment.
Fear and self-perception shape reality.
→ The experience’s mirror mechanic represents the internal dialogue of self-acceptance and dysphoria.
Abstraction makes experiences more universal.
→ Paper cut-out characters allow players to project their own fears and emotions.
Identity isn’t a single moment—it’s a journey.
→ Experiences needed fluid transitions, choice-driven narratives, and evolving environments to reflect this.
Queer and neurodivergent experiences overlap in sensory perception.
→ The VR design had to visually and audibly reflect sensory overwhelm, anxiety, and isolation.
04
Concept
"Stepping into stories, rather than just hearing them."
Soul Arcade was designed to move beyond passive storytelling. Instead of watching someone’s journey unfold, the player actively participates, shaping their own path within the experience. So, it isn’t just ‘a game’—it’s an interactive reflection on self-identity, social perception, and human connection.
Core Design Principles:
🎭 Immersive Embodiment – Players don’t watch a story unfold; they live it, feel it, and shape it.
💡 Symbolic Environments – Instead of realism, Soul Arcade visualizes emotions through shifting spaces.
🎮 Player Choice & Perspective – The player’s decisions impact how the environment responds, reinforcing how identity is shaped by external and internal factors.
05
Constraints
Here are some challenges I faced and how they were overcome:
Emotional weight vs. player comfort → Solution: Allow players to opt out of certain moments or pace their own journey.
Animating character emotions → Solution: Use lighting, static facial expressions, 2D movement, and environmental shifts to communicate feelings.
Creating an inclusive experience → Solution: Test with a diverse range of players and incorporate direct feedback into refinements.
No prior experience designing/developing for VR → Solution: Prototype fast, break things, learn how to fix problems as they arise and don't be afraid to ask for help when needed.
06
Narrative
Each space in Soul Arcade represents a different stage of self-awareness and identity exploration.
1. The Hallway of Perception: Facing the External World
A long, dimly lit hallway stretches seemingly infinitely, lined with doors and mirrors on both sides. The mirrors stand ominously, reflecting not the user—but a mask.
🔹 Core Interaction: Getting close to the doors to listen in on difficult conversations between queer people and others. Looking into the mirrors triggers internal monologues—whispers of doubt, societal expectations, and the fear of being seen.
🔹 Key Narrative Experience: Users hear phrases like “You’ll never be enough,” or “What if they stop loving you?” as their masked reflection distorts.
🔹 Movement Mechanic: Users teleport through the hallway, stopping to eavesdrop through doors or confront mirrors on either side.
🔹 Emotional Impact: The hallway embodies the weight of expectations and the struggle of self-acceptance.
2. The Bedroom: Traces of a Hidden Self
Unlike the hallway, the bedroom is warm, cluttered with childhood objects, and completely without mirrors.
🔹 Core Interaction: Users touch objects (a journal, a doll, a sports poster), triggering memories of the kid who once played here.
🔹 Key Narrative Experience: The journal contains unfinished thoughts: "Why do I feel this way?" The sports poster whispers a past doubt: "I don’t think I belong here." The doll stirs curiosity: "What if I could be her instead?"
🔹 Movement Mechanic: Users teleport between different interaction points within the room.
🔹 Emotional Impact: The room is a time capsule of quiet self-discovery, forcing users to sit with past emotions and reflect.
3. The Coming Out Scene: A Shifting Family Dinner
The user sits at a dining table with their family, but the environment is unstable. Depending on their actions, the room warms with acceptance or grows colder and distant.
🔹 Core Interaction: The player chooses how to express themselves, leading to different reactions from the family—some loving, some painful.
🔹 Key Narrative Experience: Responses shift the tone, lighting, and even the physical structure of the room. The room shrinks into distance, symbolizing alienation.
🔹 Movement Mechanic: Users do not move here—they are locked into the moment, reinforcing the weight of their choices.
🔹 Emotional Impact: This scene encapsulates the real, lived tension of coming out, where support is never guaranteed.
Paper Ideation
I made a business origami-style paper prototype for a show and tell session at UC Berkeley.
Physical Explorations
Initially, I had planned to create a pair of Lucid haptic feedback gloves so players could feel the objects in the experience but I found that it was not entirely necessary in the experience and I may have been creating it just for the sake of having a cool item. So, instead, I put all of my energy into making the VR experience as impactful as possible with the little time I had to complete the project.
07
Storyboard
Showcase
I presented my project at the Jacobs Winter Graduate Exhibition at UC Berkeley on the 20th of December, 2024. Several visitors experienced Soul Arcade and I received so much positive feedback and some suggestions as well.
I'm so glad to have been able to pull this off, given it's my first VR project and I had to work under lots of pressure in such a short timeframe.
Here are some photos and video from the exhibition:
Another guest deeply immersed in the experience, using the space to explore Soul Arcade.
Credits
A few people were very helpful in my journey to creating Soul Arcade. It wouldn't have been possible without them.
Big thanks to Professors Purin P., Kristian S., Kyle S., Yoon B. for their advice, guidance and unwavering support.
Thanks to everyone who took the survey and especially to those I interviewed. Their stories and diverse perspectives shaped this experience.
I would also like to say thank you to Chuhua D., Shanna F., Takashi X., and Miller H. for their assistance with asset sourcing, environment design and a little programming.
A special thank you to Jury Maximov for letting me use his Barbie doll model.
And finally, a huge thank you to Tom Goethals for helping with the mirrors, lighting, programming and debugging.
I truly am grateful and probably could have done (most of) it, but it wouldn't have been the same without them. In other words, thank you. 🫶🏽
Other assets used: The Journal, 90's computer and desk chair.
08
Prototype
Here is a demo video of the VR experience. It is much more immersive in VR but videos are more accessible. That said, enjoy:
09
Reflection
Creating Soul Arcade from scratch—a blank FigJam board and an empty Unity scene—was a journey of listening, learning, and loving the project for what it is. Because to me, Soul Arcade is more than an experience—it’s a conversation starter, a tool for empathy, and a gateway into stories often misunderstood.
What I Learned:
💡 Small details make a big impact.
- Users responded most to subtle environmental shifts (e.g., the room shrinking in rejection, the mirror masking the user).
- These design choices reinforced that VR storytelling is not just about what’s seen, but what’s felt.
💡 People need room to process.
- Early testers found some moments overwhelming, leading to the experience being paced accordingly so users can reflect before moving forward.
💡 VR alone isn’t enough—distribution matters.
- Accessibility was a recurring concern, reinforcing the need for PC, WebXR, and 360° versions to reach wider audiences.
Project Soul Arcade is far from over. If anything, it's just the beginning. I intend to continue building upon the experience in the future.
Where We’re Going Next:
🔹 Expanding Story Episodes → Future updates could explore gender dysphoria, intersectionality, queer joy, schizophrenia, executive dysfunction and lots more interesting experiences.
🔹 Institutional Partnerships → Collaborating with schools, therapists, and DEI programs to integrate Soul Arcade into educational and advocacy spaces.
🔹 Community-Centered Expansion → Gathering more real-world stories to inform additional interactive experiences.🌎 The long-term goal: To make Soul Arcade a living archive of diverse, immersive stories that help people see the world through new eyes.
10
Principle
We don’t change minds by telling people what to think—we change them by letting people feel what it’s like to be someone else.
- Alexx Z.
