For the RSA project I was given a range of briefs to choose from and I decided to go with number 6 which was "Platform for joy". This was asking the question of how joy can be brought to a train station platform. This could be interpreted in many ways, but for the case study question I wanted to investigate how I could improve the platform to help those with anxiety and stress.
Below shows some of my development work and how I used mind maps to layout my different ideas and approaches to this brief. I initially looked at the different people I needed to focus on such as daily commuters and tourists. I went on to explore what these people would want to see at the train platform, whether it would be changes to the environment, entertainment or help navigating the platform.
Using the 3D software Maya, I put together a train station structure to help generate some ideas for how it could be altered for the brief. However, I ended up not using this scene in the final version as I decided to base my final idea on a location, in order to see how the improvements could be implemented into a real scene. This was a simple design based of one of my previous ideas for a coloured lighting system that can be used on each of the platforms. It would tell train users more easily where the train is going based of a colour, instead of just the names of destinations on the boards.
Having changed my idea, I decided to see how train station waiting rooms could be improved to provide a less stressful environment for commuters. I began by drawing out some ideas for enhancing a platform space with nature and colour. There is also a sketch of the waiting room at Reading station outlining what could be added to the existing area.
Once the plan was sketched out for the platform, I used it as reference for the 3D build in Maya. Firstly, I created the simple outline structure of the waiting room. From this I put together the smaller assets, that could be placed into the scene. This was done in order to texture each asset individually within Substance painter, before they were transferred into the Unreal engine to produce the rendered image of the model.
Lastly, I put the assets into the Unreal engine, along with the materials that were edited using substance painter. In Unreal I was then able to add different lighting effects to the scene and make the space more visually interesting for the rendered version of the platform waiting room. My outcome is a more welcoming and exciting space for train user to wait. Along with helping those who may become stressed and anxious from the platform environment.
