Co-Designing and Learning in Virtual Reality: Development of Tool for Alcohol Resistance Training

This paper presents the design process of a Danish educational virtual reality (VR) application for alcohol
prevention. Denmark is one on the countries in Europe with the highest alcohol consumption among adolescents. Alcohol
abuse is a risk factor for a variety of diseases and contributes as a significant factor to motor vehicle accidents. The application
offers first-hand experiences with alcohol in a safe environment. This is done by simulating a party situation using 125
different 360-degree movie sequences and displaying it in a virtual reality headset. The users create their own experience
through a choose your own adventure game experience. The experience is designed to acquire skills for recognizing and
handling peer pressure, which has been found to be one of the main reasons for drinking initiation. These skills are acquired
though experimental learning. The application is a product of a co-design process involving 10 students (aged 18-28) studying
film making and game design at Askov Folk High School (a special kind of Danish boarding school without exams for young
adults), Denmark, their teachers, alcohol experts from social services and researchers with expertise within health
promotion, social marketing, VR, interaction design and game development. Additionally, 35 students from Askov Boarding
School (aged 15-17) participated as actors and extras. This article contributes to research within development of 360-degree
video applications for experimental learning with a practical example. The iterative design process of the application,
containing exploration of key concepts, concept design, prototype design, pre-usability testing, innovation design and
usability test is described, as well as our reflections on virtual experimental learning in the application