AROUND THE FORK
INSTITUTION
An immersive adventure through Milan's multicultural neighborhoods;
Told through food, sound, scent, and play.
Politecnico di Milano
YEAR
2025
ROLE
· NPC Design & Animation · Foley Artist
TEAM
· Beatriz Lara
· Sofia Robles
· Siyuan Yan
· Aranza Alcalá
An immersive adventure through Milan’s multicultural neighborhoods; told through food, sound, scent and play.
The Challenge
The Challengue
Many residents remain unfamiliar with the cultural diversity that exists within their own city, often staying within familiar neighborhoods and dining habits.
Our challenge was to create an experience that encourages curiosity, cultural exploration, and learning through immersive and sensory-driven interactions.
The Solution
We built a fully interactive VR tram ride across three of Milan’s neighborhoods — Sarpi, Loreto, and Duomo — each staged with its own characters, mini-games, and Arduino-triggered scent emissions to make the cultural contrast physical, not just visual.
My contribution: I designed and animated the NPCs that populate each environment, matching character animations to each neighborhood’s narrative context, and curated the ambient sounds, music, and audio effects that support the mini-games and reinforce each setting’s identity.
Outcome
A fully functional VR prototype that combines cultural storytelling, food interaction, spatial audio, and scent-based feedback to encourage users to explore Milan’s multicultural identity through play and immersion.
This will hide itself!
AROUND THE FORK
INSTITUTION
An immersive adventure through Milan’s multicultural neighborhoods;
Told through food, sound, scent, and play.
Politecnico di Milano
YEAR
2025
ROLE
· NPC Design & Animation · Foley Artist
TEAM
· Beatriz Lara
· Sofia Robles
· Siyuan Yan
· Aranza Alcalá
An immersive adventure through Milan’s multicultural neighborhoods; told through food, sound, scent and play.
The Challenge
The Challengue
Many residents remain unfamiliar with the cultural diversity that exists within their own city, often staying within familiar neighborhoods and dining habits.
Our challenge was to create an experience that encourages curiosity, cultural exploration, and learning through immersive and sensory-driven interactions.
The Solution
We built a fully interactive VR tram ride across three of Milan’s neighborhoods — Sarpi, Loreto, and Duomo — each staged with its own characters, mini-games, and Arduino-triggered scent emissions to make the cultural contrast physical, not just visual.
My contribution: I designed and animated the NPCs that populate each environment, matching character animations to each neighborhood’s narrative context, and curated the ambient sounds, music, and audio effects that support the mini-games and reinforce each setting’s identity.
Outcome
A fully functional VR prototype that combines cultural storytelling, food interaction, spatial audio, and scent-based feedback to encourage users to explore Milan’s multicultural identity through play and immersion.
This will hide itself!
AROUND THE FORK
INSTITUTION
An immersive adventure through Milan's multicultural neighborhoods;
Told through food, sound, scent, and play.
Politecnico di Milano
YEAR
2025
ROLE
· NPC Design & Animation · Foley Artist
TEAM
· Beatriz Lara
· Sofia Robles
· Siyuan Yan
· Aranza Alcalá
An immersive adventure through Milan’s multicultural neighborhoods; told through food, sound, scent and play.
The Challenge
The Challengue
Many residents remain unfamiliar with the cultural diversity that exists within their own city, often staying within familiar neighborhoods and dining habits.
Our challenge was to create an experience that encourages curiosity, cultural exploration, and learning through immersive and sensory-driven interactions.
The Solution
We built a fully interactive VR tram ride across three of Milan’s neighborhoods — Sarpi, Loreto, and Duomo — each staged with its own characters, mini-games, and Arduino-triggered scent emissions to make the cultural contrast physical, not just visual.
My contribution: I designed and animated the NPCs that populate each environment, matching character animations to each neighborhood’s narrative context, and curated the ambient sounds, music, and audio effects that support the mini-games and reinforce each setting’s identity.
Outcome
A fully functional VR prototype that combines cultural storytelling, food interaction, spatial audio, and scent-based feedback to encourage users to explore Milan’s multicultural identity through play and immersion.
This will hide itself!