Introduction

This is a production blog for my individual project for my final year of university. The project is an immersive sim about my experiences as a trans woman. The final product will utilize virtual reality to create a deeper sense of immersion and unease. I will be using motion capture techniques to recreate realistic behaviours to better flesh out the experience. The project will be constructed in Unreal Engine or Unity with the HTC Vive, if able to be acquired, in mind. Other VR headsets will be considered.

I have been researching trans experiences through books and social media interaction, but primarily this simulator will be based on my own experiences. It will mainly focus on the harassment, awkwardness, and general experience of presenting myself as a woman. This includes people following me and trying to take photos, stares and confrontations when trying to use the restroom, and general harassment when walking down the street. I'll also be trying to highlight positive experiences, as well, albeit this will be more difficult. These events are things I’ve experienced in real life.

The goal of this project is to help cis (Essentially, not transgender or non-binary folks) better understand how difficult it can be to live life as a trans person. In addition to the above experiences, I’m hoping some inkling of understanding of the phenomenon of gender dysphoria can be expressed. As difficult as the above experiences are, it is even more difficult having to present myself as a man in day to day interactions. That especially is difficult to convey to people. When reading about the subject myself, despite experiencing these feelings, the words in many books felt dry and obtuse. Academic sources weren’t quite getting the feelings across.

There are pre-existing games (Such as Laura K. Buzz’s Acceptance and Anna Antrophy’s Dys4ia) on this subject, some of which I have written about for previous projects, but I believe I have my own story to tell on this subject. I also believe that VR technology can create a far more identifiable experience than these already existing games. Personally, I’d also like to work with VR because of the career and educational opportunities that it presents.

This blog will help chart my progress throughout the year in developing this project. I hope to upload a new entry every week.