Ever heard of Electronauts? It’s this groovy VR game where you pretend you’re a DJ—even if you’ve got zero musical chops like me. It’s a blast on every major VR headset. But, I guess that’s not why I’m writing about it. No, there’s something about its design. It’s like… smart, but in a way that goes beyond beats and bass.
Right, there’s these three things that make its interface rock: ease-of-use, hierarchy, and, um, flexibility or something.
### Ease-of-Use
Why use drumsticks in a VR game? Well, why not? Feels like they’re a natural extension of our hands. Sciencey people say it’s evolutionary. Drumsticks become like magic wands, feeding our innate tool-using instincts. In Electronauts, you wave them around, interacting with a giant interface that helps avoid messing things up. Like, no more clumsy button pushing.
And speaking of buttons, rather than just giving them a casual poke, you stab them with your drumstick (sounds violent, but it’s not), then pull a trigger. Feels odd at first, but it’s like the game is adapting to us missing those satisfying real-life button clicks. It’s pretty genius.
### Hierarchy
Hierarchies—or whatever—are crucial. They help us remember where things are, right? In Electronauts, they’ve got everything neatly packed into these cube thingies. So you plop a cube onto a pedestal, and boom, magic happens.
Think of it like your phone screen, with apps everywhere. Easy to find stuff, without getting buried under features. Only three cubes can be active though—enough to keep things tidy without drowning in choices. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Anyway, more about flexibility—oh wait, never mind. Getting ahead of myself. Where was I? Ah, right.
There’s just something about how Electronauts does it all. Interfaces in VR can learn a lot from this. It’s not just pretty sounds and flashy moves—it’s clever. Somehow, it stays relevant. Like, years later, it’s still teaching us. I, for one, am impressed.
Whoever designed this? Cheers to them, seriously.
