Oculus Story Studio · 2016–2017
A VR drawing tool for professional artists. Create immersive artworks by drawing in 3D space.
Quill was developed in-house at Oculus Story Studio as a production tool, already supporting an entire creative workflow.
Unique amongst VR apps, studio artists used Quill for long periods of time — up to 8 hours a day. Ergonomics and usability were primary concerns.
Left: artwork by Wesley Allsbrook for the film Dear Angelica. Quill scenes often have thousands of strokes and dozens of layers.
The Beta
With a short deadline to ship a beta for the Oculus Rift Touch controller launch, I focused on key usability features — the cursor, active states, and menu navigation — essential for a new user to get started.
The old UI was built on a rotating cube. User research quickly showed this was confusing. Splitting it into labeled panels was a safe, low-dev-time improvement that also made room for a 5th gallery panel.
Post-launch, I worked on interface concepts for future features and VR interaction. Since artists use Quill for hours, ergonomics drove every decision. Mostly I built prototypes to test interaction ideas in 3D space, where flat-screen assumptions break down.
Moveable Menus
Place any menu anywhere you like, and hide them when not needed.
Artists wanted the color menu separate from the main menu and closer to the drawing hand. This design is more ergonomic and frees both hands — previously the menu was fixed to a point on the left hand.
The "Alt" Button
Touch controllers are designed for gaming and have very few buttons. Artists commonly rely on many keyboard shortcuts.
Using the left trigger as an "Alt" modifier doubles the number of available shortcuts — similar to how keyboard shortcuts are mapped in desktop tools.
Transform Tool
Artists wanted axis-constrained translate and rotation. I made 4–5 iterations on this prototype, packing in: single-axis move and rotate, pivot point relocation, layer group navigation, and duplicating.
Duplicating became an immediate favorite.
Alt + Grab = Duplicate
Right Joystick Right = Repeat Last
Right Joystick Up/Down = Parent/Child layer groups
Shortcut Gesture
The Touch controllers support a "point" gesture by lifting the index finger. I found this could trigger a contextual shortcut — a bit like a right-click, but more minimal.
The goal was quick, tool-specific actions so artists wouldn't need to reach the large menus for everything.
Flip Animation Gesture
Inspired by how traditional animators flip paper between their fingers to feel the motion, this gesture activates by extending the left pointer finger.
A simple wrist rotation varies the speed between frames — much faster and more intuitive than scrubbing a timeline.
Visual UI Concept
Since Quill drawings are unlit and unshaded, giving the UI tangible materiality would help differentiate it from the scene.
I modeled various 3D buttons and found that matcaps are a practical solution for pre-baked materials and lighting in real-time. The soft curve of the button shape dramatically changes the apparent material.
