A visual and interaction-focused UI experiment exploring how players perceive space, urgency, and identity in deep-sea or pressure-limited environments.

🎯 Project Focus

• Explore how HUD elements can merge with environmental storytelling
• Maintain readability and reaction time under visual distortion and low-contrast conditions
• Balance atmosphere and usability in a pressure-based survival setting

🛠 UX & Design Choices

• Minimalist Core Info Display:

  Compact HUD centered around pressure gauge, oxygen level, and directional guidance – inspired by survival mechanics in atmospheric titles.

• Environmental Integration:

  UI elements subtly embedded into the player's helmet/glass layer, avoiding screen-dominant overlays and reinforcing diegetic immersion.

• Color Logic & Iconography:

  Cool-toned neutrals with high-contrast highlights for danger, pressure shifts, and signal detection – shaped by accessibility logic.

• Motion & Blur Simulation:

  Environmental stress is reflected in subtle UI flickers, radial blur, and edge fading – creating a sense of vulnerability.

🧠 Key UX Learnings

1. Diegetic design can amplify immersion – but it needs anchors:

   Players still need quick access to orientation and feedback, even in stylized HUDs.

2. Environmental UI must respect stress levels:

   Too much atmosphere can impair clarity – oxygen depletion shouldn’t be beautiful if it confuses urgency.