VR Earthquake Experience for Wango Tango
Client
iHeartMedia
Industry
Media & Entertainment
The Challenge
iHeartMedia wanted to create a virtual reality earthquake simulation at Wango Tango to promote awareness and preparedness education. The experience needed to feel genuinely immersive — objects falling, the environment shaking, realistic physics — while also being educational, guiding users through a 7-point earthquake preparedness checklist. The catch: the entire project had a 3-week deadline from concept to delivery. On top of the development timeline, the experience needed to work flawlessly in an outdoor festival environment with thousands of attendees cycling through, using HTC Vive headsets that are sensitive to sunlight interference.
Our Solution
Our 3D design and development team leveraged Unity and SteamVR to rapidly construct a realistic earthquake simulation for the HTC Vive. We used pre-existing Unity assets for environmental artwork to accelerate development while our team focused on the interactive experience design. The simulation features realistic physics — objects fall, break, and scatter during the shaking. Users follow a 7-point preparedness checklist and must crawl under a virtual table for protection to 'survive' the earthquake. We sent team members to Wango Tango for on-site support — including rigging tarps to shield the HTC Vive sensors from sunlight interference — and provided setup, live event support, and teardown assistance.
Project Scope
- VR experience design and storyboarding
- Unity and SteamVR development
- 3D environment modeling and physics simulation
- Interactive earthquake preparedness checklist
- HTC Vive optimization and testing
- On-site festival setup and support
- Sunlight interference mitigation for outdoor VR
- Post-event analysis and future event planning
Timeline
3 weeks
Results
Measurable impact and real business outcomes
Weeks from Concept to Delivery
Festival Attendees Experienced It
Technical Failures During Event
Technology Stack
"From brainstorming to troubleshooting onsite issues during our events, the team has been invaluable to our VR projects. Their team is dedicated. Their process is seamless, and they go above and beyond in every phase of the project. As a result, they've earned their place as one of my 'first call' technology partners."
Zaqary Whitnack
iHeartMedia, Inc.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you deliver a polished VR experience in just 3 weeks?
Speed comes from smart scoping and asset reuse. We used pre-existing Unity assets for environmental artwork and focused our team's effort on the interactive experience — the physics, the checklist system, and the user flow. A dedicated team worked around the clock to hit the deadline without cutting corners on the experience quality.
What challenges come with running VR at an outdoor festival?
HTC Vive sensors use infrared tracking that's disrupted by direct sunlight. We rigged tarps and shading to protect the sensors while maintaining the festival atmosphere. We also had to manage constant user cycling — each session was 2-3 minutes with quick resets between attendees. On-site technical staff ensured smooth operation throughout the event.
Can VR experiences be reused across multiple events?
Absolutely. The earthquake experience was designed for portability and reuse. After the success at Wango Tango, iHeartMedia deployed it at future events. The modular Unity architecture means experiences can be updated, extended, or adapted for different venues without rebuilding from scratch.