Wellnut
A nutshell to express yourself
A VR companion that gives students a private, judgment-free space to pause, talk, and breathe — no appointment, no stigma, no waiting list.
- Role
- UX Researcher + Project Coordinator
- Duration
- 6 Months · Nov 2024 – May 2025
- Team
- UX Research · Unreal Dev · Environment Art · Character Art · Audio
- Tools
- Unreal Engine · Maya · Google Forms · Perforce
61%
of students who need mental health support never reach out
33
Students surveyed, across 6 academic disciplines
4
Research phases, 6 months to showcase
The Problem
Campus mental health services exist. Students don’t use them.
The problem isn’t a shortage of resources — it’s that stigma, time, and awareness create a gap between students in distress and support that’s already free.
Students wish schools could proactively check in with them — not wait for them to come forward.
Free help already exists. Almost no one asks for it.
01 · The Scale — Unused
58% of students with chronic stress have never accessed an on-campus mental health service, despite it being free.
02 · The Barrier — Independence
67% prefer handling things on their own. 48% cite no time. Stigma and trust issues compound both.
03 · The Opening — Already there
71% specifically saw value in VR-based meditation — before any product existed to try.
The Stakes
Help already exists. The barrier isn't access — it's the moment before someone asks.
Research Process
Four phases. Mixed-methods throughout.
Wks 1–4 · Secondary Research
Literature review of the mental health crisis, existing interventions, and the VR + meditation evidence base.
Wks 5–10 · Primary Research — Survey
33 students surveyed across 6 disciplines on mental health need and VR receptiveness, then mapped into barriers.
Wks 11–14 · Expert Consultation
Licensed therapist interview — built the empathy-language framework and ethical guardrails.
Wks 15–26 · Scope, Build, Showcase
MVP scope defined, avatar and environment built in Unreal Engine, dialogue branches designed, shown at Jarvis Innovation Showcase.
Mixed methods, not sequential
The survey told us what students needed. The therapist told us how to deliver it. Neither alone was enough.
The numbers that shaped every decision.
64%
Rated academic adjustment moderately to extremely challenging
61%
Rarely or never seek mental health support, despite experiencing need
71%
Saw value in VR meditation for exam stress and performance
58%
Open or maybe open to using VR wellness tools regularly
61% of students who experience a mental health need rarely or never seek support — yet 71% said VR meditation could help them.
Methodological limitation
Participants were self-selected students from a single institution — findings are directional, not generalizable. A next step: a broader, multi-institution sample, including students who've actively sought support.
Expert Consultation
Designing for psychological safety.
The avatar should model a healthy relationship — providing space, listening, and validation — while maintaining appropriate boundaries. It should feel like someone who cares, without replacing human connection.
What changed after the interview
Before: the avatar offered meditation right after the user picked an emotion. After: a validation step first — acknowledge, then guide. One principle drove the change: never skip acknowledgement.
Trust building
Set clear expectations upfront — session duration, confidentiality, what the avatar can and can't do. Uncertainty breeds anxiety.
Active listening cues
Pick up the user's own keywords and mirror their language. If they say "stressed," the avatar uses "stress." Pauses simulate thought.
Validate, then act
"That sounds really challenging" before "Let's try breathing." Never skip acknowledgement — it's what makes a response feel human.
Ethical guardrails
Limit session availability to prevent dependency, and include gentle prompts toward professional help. Never promise what the system can't keep.
Design Rationale
Three decisions, backed by research.
Why VR — privacy without stigma
A physically enclosed space nobody else can see into. Directly answers the 67% who'd rather stay independent than seek help in public.
Why an avatar — connection without commitment
Instantly available — no booking, no commute, no waiting list — for the 48% who cite no time for traditional support.
Why talk, then meditation — acknowledge, then guide
Students need to feel heard before they can receive guidance. Conversational support first, technique second.
Scoped for depth, not breadth
One exceptional, research-grounded experience over five half-finished features. Voice AI, biometric sensors, and mood tracking are roadmap — not v1.
In the editor
Emotion-bubble blueprints branch the dialogue tree live in Unreal — the same system built the emotion-bubble forest on the left.
The Solution
One polished experience beats five unfinished ones.
A forest environment and meditation cave in Unreal Engine, an avatar with two emotion-based dialogue branches, a guided meditation, a personalized greeting, and a blue-green palette chosen for psychological calm.
Watch It Work
Three moments from a six-month build.
Building the forest, in the editor
Setting up for showcase night
Guiding a first-time user in
Jarvis Innovation Showcase · 2025
Live feedback, in real time.
Attendees tried the live prototype and left sticky notes on a Wall of Feedback — “loved it,” requests for meditative background audio, one asking for Wellnut to “have emotes.”
This feels like talking to someone who actually cares.
Research that built something real.
5 → 0
Team members onboarded to Unreal Engine — none had prior experience
71%
Pre-validated VR demand, before the product existed
6 mo
From first literature review to live showcase
Dec 2024 – Jan 2025
Primary Research — 33 Students Surveyed
Mixed-methods survey across 6 disciplines validated the problem and revealed 71% VR receptiveness — directly informing the platform choice before any code was written.
Feb 2025
Licensed Therapist Interview — Empathy Framework Created
A structured expert interview produced a reusable empathetic dialogue framework and ethical guardrails for avatar-based mental health interactions.
May 2025
Jarvis Innovation Challenge Showcase
Prototype exhibited to students, faculty, and industry guests. Live feedback collected via a Wall of Feedback.
What Wellnut taught me.
Mixed methods work together
The survey showed what students needed. The therapist interview showed how to deliver it. Neither alone was enough.
Scope is a research decision
Choosing what not to build was as important as what to build — one polished MVP over five unfinished features.
Domain experts accelerate design
One structured therapist interview gave us an entire empathy framework and ethical guardrails — months of iteration compressed into one session.
Technology serves the human need
We chose VR because the research pointed there, not because VR is exciting — private, available, judgment-free support was the actual goal.
Now
The roadmap picks up where the six-month scope had to stop.
Real-time AI and voice interaction, biometric sensor integration, more environment options, and a weekly check-in system are next — alongside testing with a broader, multi-institution sample and students who’ve actively sought support, to move the findings from directional to representative.
