Meta Workshop: Prototyping Realities.
XR workshop · Meta × Royal College of Art
Project Overview:
A three-day XR workshop where I explored rapid worldbuilding and embodied interaction inside Meta Horizon Worlds, moving from experimentation to a live, navigable prototype using Meta Quest Pro.
Tools:
Meta Quest Pro
Meta Horizon
Timeline:
3 Days
The environment and the game play.
This project emerged from a three-day XR workshop exploring rapid prototyping inside Meta Horizon Worlds using the Meta Quest Pro.
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Working within an open-ended brief, participants moved quickly from introduction and orientation into hands-on experimentation. The focus was not on polish, but on understanding how immersive worlds are constructed, navigated, and experienced from within.
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What stood out most was the collaborative nature of the platform. Worlds were not designed in isolation, but shaped through shared exploration, testing, and iteration inside the headset.
My Role
I participated as a designer, responsible for:
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Worldbuilding and interaction design within Meta Horizon Worlds
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Concept development and rapid prototyping under time constraints
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Discovering and testing spatial interaction affordances of the Meta Quest Pro
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Alongside building my own world, I explored the motion sensitivity and embodied interactions possible within the headset, uncovering behaviours and mechanics through trial rather than instruction.
Design Intention
The workshop encouraged learning through making.
Rather than studying how XR systems work, participants were asked to build something immediately and discover limitations and possibilities through use.
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The emphasis was on:
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speed over refinement
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experimentation over correctness
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embodied interaction over abstract planning
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There were no restrictions on theme or outcome, allowing ideas to emerge organically from interaction with the tools.
The Prototype
I designed a small interactive world inspired by a reimagined Ice Queen character, not as a villain, but as a figure in need of help.
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The experience took the form of a simple game:
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the player collects coloured roses
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each rose triggers a different interaction
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the goal is to help melt the snow and transform the environment
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Key interactions included:
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entering a temple by physically bending in the real world
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climbing a tree to retrieve a rose placed at height
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opening a treasure box to uncover a hidden object
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These interactions relied on embodied movement rather than button-heavy mechanics, and were discovered and implemented within a limited timeframe.
Tools & Interaction
Platform
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Meta Horizon Worlds
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Hardware
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Meta Quest Pro
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Interaction
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VR Motion Controller navigation
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Object interaction and attachment
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Limited hand tracking exploration
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Working setup
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Worldbuilding on desktop software
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Testing and presentation inside the headset
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Two-person teams working collaboratively
Design Focus
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Rapid worldbuilding under tight time constraints
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Discovering interaction mechanics through experimentation
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Translating physical movement into meaningful in-world actions
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Designing playful objectives to guide exploration
Problems & Iteration
Several issues emerged during prototyping:
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The avatar scale did not match the world
→ resolved by adjusting scale directly through the desktop editor
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Objects could not be held simultaneously
→ solved using Horizon’s object attachment function
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A duplicated environment caused the avatar to fall through the world
→ resolved with guidance from Meta facilitator Martin
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These moments became key learning points, revealing how fragile and malleable immersive systems can be during early-stage prototyping.
Outcomes & Reflection
The workshop revealed how quickly immersive ideas can take shape when tools are accessible and collaborative by design.
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What surprised me most was how simple the Horizon interface felt, despite the complexity of what could be built within it. The biggest challenge was not ideation, but acclimatising to designing from inside the headset while simultaneously thinking about structure, scale, and interaction.
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This experience reinforced my interest in:
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embodied interaction design
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worldbuilding as a UX practice
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learning through making in XR systems
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The project signals -
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Ability to work hands-on with XR platforms
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Comfort experimenting inside unfamiliar immersive systems
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Experience operating at the intersection of industry tools and academic exploration
Gameplay footage captured in real time.