Do you know where your pearls come from?
This is an innovative concept for the jewellery industry - aimed at brands that want to offer a more transparent and sustainable supply chain experience for their customers.
This project has a more technical focus and was developed as a Virtual Reality experience. Together with one of my classmates, I created a fully immersive VR room designed to take the viewer through the journey of a pearl - from the pearl farm to the final jewellery store.
The project was showcased at Jewellery of Tomorrow, an event hosted by KEA, where forward-thinking ideas in jewellery design and business are celebrated.
This project was a group project. My main responsibilities included drawing objects in CAD Rhino and building the VR room in Unity. In addition, I contributed to design development and storytelling.
Innovation Idea
Our goal for this semester was to create an innovative and sustainable concept for an existing jewellery brand.
Throughout our time at KEA, we have worked extensively with sustainability - especially in relation to the metals and stones used in jewellery. However, we realized that pearls were often overlooked in these discussions. That’s why we decided to dive deeper into the world of pearls and explore what it truly costs the planet to produce these beautiful, small treasures.
We also wanted to challenge ourselves technically, which led us to develop this project as a Virtual Reality experience.
To create a clear overview of the concept and the journey we wanted the user to take, we developed a visual map outlining each room we planned to build in virtual reality.
A small disclaimer: In this project, only the first room,
The Pearl Farm - was fully developed and brought to life in VR.
Materials : Photoshop, InDesign
Moodboard
To get our ideas flowing for how we wanted to create our VR room, we began by exploring the visual style and atmosphere we wanted to build.
Since we were working in the VR program Unity, we needed video material for the walls to help bring the environment to life. We decided to use a combination of photos and videos as textures for the walls and floor, creating a more immersive and realistic setting.
To keep the project manageable and focused, we chose to only 3D model the key interactive elements within the room, the parts that the user would move around. This approach allowed us to balance storytelling with technical feasibility, while still creating a rich and believable space.
Materials : Photoshop, InDesign
Sketches
All of our sketches and 3D models were created in Rhino, which we had chosen early on as our primary design tool for this project. Since we had already defined the visual direction and core elements, we focused on modeling only the essential components: the clams, the pearls inside them, and the bamboo structures that hold everything together underwater - similar to how they are arranged in real pearl farms.
In addition to the modeling process, we had to prepare specific file formats that would be compatible with Unity, the VR platform we used to build the final room.
The combination of Rhino for 3D modeling and Unity for building the interactive experience allowed us to create a visually engaging and technically functional VR space that supports both storytelling and user immersion.
Materials : Rhino, Blender
Elements
When all the elements were completed in Rhino and Blender, we brought them into KeyShot to finish the visual presentation and give the models a more natural and realistic appearance.
Using KeyShot allowed us to add detailed textures, lighting, and reflections, which helped bring the underwater environment and materials - like pearl surfaces and bamboo structures - to life. This step was especially important for communicating the atmosphere and making the virtual space feel more immersive and believable.
Materials : Rhino, Blender, Keyshot
Virtuel Reality
Our final project is designed to be experienced through virtual reality glasses, where the immersive environment can be fully appreciated. However, for presentation purposes, we created a video walkthrough that provides an overview of the space consumers would be able to explore.
Using Unity, we enhanced the atmosphere with natural lighting and visual effects. One of the key features was the addition of moving water above the room, which created realistic light reflections and added depth to the underwater experience. This helped make the environment feel more dynamic, alive, and emotionally engaging for the viewer.
The purpose of this project is to give customers a more interactive and transparent look into the supply chain of their favorite jewellery brands. This video could be used as part of a temporary in-store event, offering customers a unique experience. Afterwards, the VR content could easily be adapted for the brand’s social media platforms or website - allowing customers to explore the space using their phone or computer, instead of VR controllers.
Materials : Rhino, Blender, Keyshot, Unity