Between the Signals

Between the Signals is a single-scene VR escape room experience built around environmental storytelling, spatial interaction, and player perception. The project focuses on guiding the player through subtle audiovisual cues rather than explicit instructions, encouraging observation, experimentation, and deduction.

The experience begins in a lobby space featuring an interactive UI that introduces the player to the environment and provides optional guidance. From there, the player enters the main room, which is constructed from multiple room prefabs combined into a cohesive interior space. Navigation is handled through XR teleportation anchors with smooth fade-in and fade-out transitions to maintain comfort and immersion.

The core puzzle revolves around a three-button combination system. Each button tracks the number of presses and displays its current value using world-space UI. Only one exact combination results in success, while incorrect inputs are allowed without explicit failure feedback, preventing accidental hints and encouraging deliberate problem solving.

Clues for the correct combination are distributed across the environment using different VR techniques. A television displays visual signal interference to communicate one part of the code. A mirror, implemented using a secondary camera and render texture, reveals information that is invisible to the player’s main view by leveraging camera culling masks and layers. A radio and smartphone interaction uses trigger volumes and smooth audio crossfading to simulate signal interference, revealing another hidden clue only when the phone is brought into the correct proximity.

Additional environmental storytelling elements include a misleading written note that triggers a fail sound when a false combination is entered, reinforcing the theme of misdirection. Audio is used extensively, including spatial sound, ambient loops, crossfades, and audio playback tied to player actions.

The project also features an in-game pause menu that can be summoned at any time, appearing in front of the player’s view and following head movement. This menu allows the player to restart the experience or quit the application. Upon completing the puzzle, the player is teleported back to the lobby, where a victory screen, music, and particle effects provide clear and satisfying feedback. Restarting the game reloads the scene with a fade transition, fully resetting all interactions and states.