Unreal Engine Project: Dreaming the Prairie
Dreaming the Prairie is an Unreal Engine 5 installation and art game developed with Studio localStyle, using GIS data to digitally reconstruct the threatened Bell Bowl Prairie from the perspective of a rusty patched bumblebee.
Role: UX Designer, VR Developer
Tools: Unreal Engine 5, Maya, Substance Painter
Duration: 1 year
Key Responsibilities:
As part of the development team, I worked as a UX designer and VR developer, focusing on interaction design and technical implementation for Oculus Quest 2.
I optimized 3D plant and terrain assets from Maya to Unreal Engine for real-time performance, developed Blueprint-based interaction systems, and prototyped immersive navigation and event triggers to guide user experience within the VR environment.
Tools:
Dreaming The Prairie Gameplay Screen Recording
This is a short 3:12 screen recording of a longer interaction session.
Featured plants: Lead Plant, Prairie Smoke, Rough Blazingstar
VR Player Interaction Design in UE5 & Meta Quest 2
This VR prototype builds spatial interactions and event-triggered moments that guide players through a rusty-patched bumbelbee scale prairie world. Gaze-based interaction, environmental feedback, and simple VR-optimized navigation help create an immersive and intuitive experience.
3D Model Stillcuts
3D Modeling & Optimizing Plant Assets
Plant assets were modeled in Autodesk Maya and textured with game-ready optimized materials in Substance Painter. UDIM texture sets were consolidated into a single UV square using Photoshop, then PNG texture maps were imported into Unreal Engine 5 to create final materials.
Exhibition [XR Experiences at the Festival of the Future]
Munich, Germany | June 27th to 29th, 2024
Dreaming the Prairie Exhibitions
• SAIC Galleries, Chicago IL, “Faculty Sabbatical Triennial” [25 August-12 December 2025] (v1.5.5) [Vimeo trailer]
• VGA Project Lab, MANA Contemporary, Chicago IL, [21-31 March 2025], curated by Eleanor Schichtel (v1.5.3)
• Silicon Vilstal, Erlebnisfestival 2024, Vilsiburg DE, “Virtuelle Erlebnisse mit VR-Brillen” at Augenoptik Aschenbrenner [21-22 September 2024], curated by Silke Schmidt (v1.5.0)
• Festival der Zukunft, Forum der Zukunft, Deutsches Museum, Munich DE, “XR Experiences” [27-29 June 2024], curated by Silke Schmidt (v1.5.0)
• University of South Carolina, Columbia SC, “Southern Gauge Screening Series” (IG:) @southerngauge [30 May 2024], live playthrough by Chaz Evans (v1.5.0)
• Watershed Art & Ecology, Chicago IL, “Kishwacokee Kinship: Reimagining Relatives” [16 March-13 April 2024] (v1.0.0) [documentation from the opening night]
• XRHUB Bavaria, Munich DE, “Medientage München” [25-27 October 2023], curated by Silke Schmidt (v0.5.0)
This project is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Northwestern University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.