Bioluminescence
Background
In April 2025, I joined MAVERiC studio, the XR training and development studio at Origami Air Co. Having no major prior experience in XR development- specifically, Unity- my teammate and I set out to build a virtual environment that would replicate bioluminescence. Vaidehi Karve and I spent 10 weeks developing our environment.
The environment transitions from a glowing crystal cave to a tranquil bioluminescent beach, complete with sound system, invoking a sense of peace and tranquility. I wanted to capture the wonder of walking through bioluminescence for those who can't actually experience the magic in person.
As the XR Designer and Developer for the team, I used Unity and the VRChat SDK to create materials like Shader Graphs, VFX Graphs on the Universal Render Pipeline, and tried to optimise them as best as possible to run smoothly on the Meta Quest. We built the system entirely from scratch, gaining skills in level design and asset creation in addition to the package development required to create effects like footprints in the sand trailing behind the user when they walk, for example.
Process
Worldbuilding & Level Design: Built the environment from scratch using Unity’s URP. Developed a glowing cave and beach system using modular assets, terrain sculpting, and lighting workflows optimized for standalone VR.
Technical Art & VFX: Designed a custom particle system and shader graphs to simulate natural bioluminescent effects. Implemented fog, bloom, color grading, and volumetric lighting to heighten immersion.
Iteration & User Testing: Over a two-month period, conducted user testing sessions to gather feedback on navigation, performance, and emotional response. Prototyped and refined interactions and lighting sequences for comfort and visual cohesion.
Optimization: Tuned materials, draw calls, and post-processing to ensure smooth performance on Meta Quest while maintaining visual richness.
View some snapshots from the project here! While creating this, my teammate and I overloaded our computer with the immense amount of data we were consuming and fried the RAM, consequently ensuring we could not edit anything any further.
