This Week’s Goals
In Week 3, our goals were to:
- Align with faculty on concept, scope, and feasibility at Quarters presentation
- Officially begin external resource outreach with industry and education partners
- Finalize key technical and design decisions to unblock production
Quarters Presentation
At Quarters, we presented a consolidated vision of the project, including our learning goals, experience direction, and production scope.
External Resource Outreach
This week, we formally began collaborating with professional organizations in welding education and advanced manufacturing.
1. Mill 19
(Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute)
- Initial meeting: Friday, Jan 30
- Scheduled site visit: Thursday, Feb 6
We connected with researchers at Mill 19 to learn more about robotic welding systems and advanced manufacturing testbeds, helping us ground our project in real-world industrial practices.
2. Industrial Arts Workshop
IAW is a Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization focused on welding education for teens and young adults.
- Initial meeting: Tuesday, Jan 27
- Scheduled workshop visit: Monday, Feb 9
Art Direction
Our concept artist created initial illustrations to capture the overall mood, scale, and atmosphere of the experience.
Define of Success (Established)
We clarified how we will evaluate whether the project is successful:
Success means turning first-time players into confident, curious learners who want to explore welding further.
We will consider the project successful if:
- Narrative and gamification meaningfully increase engagement during practice
- The experience generates clear insights for future XR welding research with our client
