Week 1: The Pivot & The Plan

Still frame from the Misfit Dollz commercial (2025)

The Pivot

Initially, I was going to develop a thesis project based on the research I had done in Pre-thesis about hybrid learning and immersive educational experiences, specifically a mixed media, XR project on the Scale of Cells and the Electromagnetic spectrum. However, I decided to pivot for three main reasons, (1) Feasability, while my original thesis project had a lot of research backing and supporting my original hypothesis, I found that developing and designing such a project over 3 months may not be the most practical as well as having already developed aspects of my new thesis project, (3) Passion & Motivation, while I think immersive, multi-sensory and accessible learning is important, Misfit Dollz: The XR Experience is a project I am emotionally connected to and I feel in the current time we are living in, especially with the portrayal of beauty and aesthetics distorting our self-perception on digital platforms, an uprise in “conservative values”, christian nationalism, and queer oppression, I think this project serves an important purpose.

Misfit Dollz: The XR Experience

Intro & Background

Misfit Dollz: The XR Experience is an extension of a previous project that focuses on topics surrounding queerness, standards of beauty, specifically gender dysphoria & body dysmorphia, gender conditioning in marketing, art activism & subversive art, and self-perception. It serves as a satirical critique of how toy design, commercial, and media portrayals perpetuate gender stereotypes and unrealistic standards of beauty marketed towards children. This project was inspired by the work of the Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO), as well as Tom Forscythe, who made a series called ‘Food Chain Barbie’ that famously won a case against Mattel. This project is also inspired by my experience as a queer person navigating my identity under the heteronormative gaze and influence of these commercials and toys, and their lasting negative psychological impact on mental health and self-image.

Misfit Dolls: The Exhibit – Commercial Draft (2025)

**An Image from ‘Food Chain Barbie’ by Tom Forscythe**

Project Idea

For this project, I would like to develop an XR experience made up of two primary installations: (1) A game in which the view can navigate a virtual space that takes on the elements of the Misfit Dollz commercial and expands the Misfit Dollz universe, this would include 3D scanned props from my showcase, my commercial embedded in a 3D asset as well as environmental elements, (2) an AR face/body/object tracking photo booth (disguised as a mirror) in which a person can capture themselves with a custom Misfit Dolls filter (this involves AR elements such as animated 3D model overlays). I think both can serve not only to develop the thesis but also to world-build.

The space overall would evoke a child’s bedroom, with kitschy aesthetics to match the Misfit Dollz maximalist aesthetic. I chose this spatial concept because it simulates a nostalgic, familiar space that also feels safe and private, where a lot of self-reflection occurs.

Sketch of Misfit Dollz Unity environment

Target Audience

The target audience would be primarily adult queer or non-cisgender identifying individuals who may have also had negative experiences brought about by the standards of gender and beauty set by the media or enforced by their childhood toys. I want this project not only to address the harm of gender conditioning in toys & commercials, but also to create a space where queer people can come together and find others who may resonate with the work.

Research Topics of Interest

The areas of study that I plan to investigate to further inform this concept and develop it into a thesis would be (1) Gender Studies, (2) Behavioral & Social Psychology, (3) Activism & Subversive Art, (4) Media Studies, commercial influence in particular, (5) Queer Studies, (6) Kitsch, Camp and other related styles or aesthetics (think Sontag’s ‘Notes on Camp’). Research methods I plan to utilize for this project would be (1) Archival Research surrounding the topics of interest previously stated, viewing old commercials, toy designs, gender studies etc., (2) Cultural Probes, where I design a kit in which the targeted demographic comment on their experience with gender dysphoria & body dysmorphia as well as their relationship or citing of a childhood toy or commercial that may have evoked those feelings, (3) Observational, creating a focus group of queer individuals and observing participants interaction with a selection of mainstream name brand toys, followed by a survey that asks what toys they were most drawn to, which ones made them uncomfortable, and other notable thoughts they may have on the project and activity overall, (4) Activity-based, where I would develop an activity and template in which a group of participants would design their own Misfit Doll and discuss their ideation process in a follow-up group conversation & feedback survey. Lastly, I would have a final group to playtest both the AR filter & Unity game experience, and take a survey to provide qualitative & quantitative feedback

What Has Been Done Previously (Not for Thesis)

Sourced toys and physical materials
Dissembled & re-assembled doll parts
3D scanned using Qlone & polished reference images using Chat GPT (background clean-up)
Further polished 3D models in Tripo
Issue: Tripo’s rig feature would not work on my models—>Pivoted to making an AI generated commercial.
Generated images, video for the commercial + posters using Midjourney, Artlist, Chat GPT, LTX studio
Generated song using Suno AI, narration + sound effects using Eleven Labs
Printed version of 3D models (though this was troublesome as the models’ textures were being finnicky (set up a file using Blender)
Edited commercial on Final Cut & Veed (for background removal and green screen)
Designed & staged the Exhibit space
Gave a small live performance in which I gave viewers a sticker of their choice (Misfit Dollz sticker) from a toy cash register as a playful nod to the consumerism associated with name-brand dolls overall.

What I Want To Do (For Thesis)

Using Unity, make a 3D environment in which the participant navigates the space as one of the Misfit Dollz (or encounter them)
So far, I’ve found a workflow to finally rig my models for animation. These animated models would apply to both the AR and 3D Unity installations.
Tripo—> Meshy—>Mixamo—> Tripo —> Blender & Unity
Create an AR file with newly rigged 3D models on Touch Designer or Unity
Think about the interactions, and design plan for AR installation
So far, I have begun sketching the AR experience

What I Need To Do (For Thesis)

Concept Development

More research to inform my thesis paper & project (ideally 15-20 sources for literature review).
Design & Develop probe kits, activity templates, and surveys to conduct the research methods stated above.
Begin Archival Research by identifying archives that hold artifacts and documents related to the area of study I plan to investigate.

Prototype Development

Design & Create Unity environment, character actions, and plan interactivity (3D world installation)
Design & Create TouchDesigner AR installation
Decide what it will look like & how people can interact with it
Incorporate object tracking perhaps with 3D printed objects
Make sure to test the amount of people the AR filter can identify (to see how many people can use it at once)
Design and construct physical displays
Incorporate posters into AR elements (when someone uses their phone camera, they can view an animation over the poster or a pop-up that provides a background story for each character and how they were concepted).

Animation and Rigging Progress (2026)