From July 2021-January 2022, I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant in 3D design with the Spanish Travelers Project at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This project aimed at designing a virtual reality program to be used with the Oculus that maps the journeys of 19th century travelers through Spain. In the 19th century, railroads, passenger steamships, and other means of transportation were expanding, and travel books were becoming a mass-produced commercial form of writing. That was also the time when Spain emerged as one of Europe’s and the Americas’ most popular destinations. These books provided detailed documentation of the author’s travels. The Spanish Travelers VR space, currently a prototype, brings some of these itineraries to life by allowing users to follow these journeys across historical maps and select the authors’ progress, day by day, reading what they wrote, and seeing points of interest.
I worked closely with the Visualization Technology Specialist to create digital assets that visualized the journeys of the real-life travelers through Spain. My main assignment was to design the visual style of the scalable 3D virtual reality program, including the colors, textures, typography, and icons. I also designed the user interface for a menu within a book that controlled the visibility of the journey paths, points of interest, time period, and mode of transportation.
Demo of the Program
Book Texture
Book UI Mockup
Design Guides & Visual Concepts
