1. Introduction to Virtual Reality Mark Green School of Creative Media

2. Introduction  Explore virtual reality: creative side creative side technical side technical side interaction between technology and creativity in a new medium interaction between technology and creativity in a new medium  concentrate on the practical side, with some theoretical themes as well

3. Virtual Reality  I use the term Virtual Reality to encompass several related technologies: traditional VR, immersing the user in a computer generated 3D space traditional VR, immersing the user in a computer generated 3D space augmented reality, combining real and virtual spaces augmented reality, combining real and virtual spaces computer / video games computer / video games location based entertainment location based entertainment

4. Pushing the Envelop  Virtual reality pushes the envelop in several ways: viewer participation viewer participation technology technology interaction interaction

5. Pushing the Envelop: Participation  Most art / media separates the creator / performer from the viewer  no interaction between the two  modern media, such as film, video and sound recording have enforced this separation, both in place and time  the viewer has no way of influencing the art work

6. Pushing the Envelop: Participation  This separation of performer and viewer has been accelerated by modern technology  some non-computer media support participation: jazz, improv theatre, some installation art, street performers  but, in general artists don’t consider the viewer as an active participant in the creation of the art work

7. Pushing the Envelop: Participation  For interactive art the viewer must be considered as partner in the creative process  one of the main reasons for failure in interactive pieces  must be more than trivial interaction, must pull the viewer into the piece  provide the framework for the experience, not dictate the experience

8. Pushing the Envelop: Technology  This is the bleeding edge  working with technology that doesn’t always work  early technology isn’t reliable  early users must be prepared for failure, in return they have more freedom  mature technologies are frozen, little opportunity for exploration and variations

9. Pushing the Envelop: Technology  What are the implications? Must plan ahead, can’t do everything the night before Must plan ahead, can’t do everything the night before must be flexible, it may not work the way you think it should must be flexible, it may not work the way you think it should share the facilities, expensive equipment is typically one of a kind share the facilities, expensive equipment is typically one of a kind

10. Pushing the Envelop: Interaction  Most interaction is poor: keyboard and mouse  “designing computer systems for one eyed dogs”  use very few of our senses  use very little of the I/O bandwidth of modern computers

11. Pushing the Envelop: Interaction  How do we interact in 3D?  Would like to have large display surfaces and a richer interaction vocabulary  why build 3D objects with a mouse?  Sculptors don’t do that, they work in a 3D space with 3D tools  how can we do this with computers?

13. Art and Technology  Haven’t always been separate, relatively recent  mainly due to post-WWII compartmentalization of knowledge and push for specialization  would not see this separation in a university 100 years ago

14. Art and Technology  Artists only have access to a portion of what technology can do, sometimes very small  software packages bias the media and the creative process  without knowledge of the technology can only do what the geeks let you do  restricts creative freedom

15. Art and Technology  Example: Alias and SoftImage define what computer animation is  they set a particular style which you must work within  other types of computer animation are possible, but they don’t occur because the tools don’t support them

16. Art and Technology  Beware of the bias that comes from software packages  these tools could impose extreme restrictions on your creativity  understand the technology and its possibilities, then push for the tools that allow freedom of expression, or do it yourself

17. What is VR About?  Lets skip the technology and think about the medium  thesis: “VR: an experience produced by computer technology”  the key word is experience, convince users they are somewhere else  quite often the term immersion is used, similar idea

18. Immersion or Experience  User is unaware of the computer, other real surroundings  “suspension of disbelief”, know its not real, but act like it is: dodge a ball dodge a ball try to lean on virtual furniture try to lean on virtual furniture emotions, fear, phobias, etc emotions, fear, phobias, etc

19. Experience  How do we produce this experience?  Consistency: all senses match, do what we expect  cartoon visuals require cartoon motion and behavior  photo-realistic visuals require accurate real world motion and behaviors  follows the rules of the game

20. Experience  Responsive: the user can influence the environment  more than a ghost moving through an unreal space  objects must respond to the user: can’t move through walls can’t move through walls kick an object and it moves kick an object and it moves

21. Experience  Complete: users don’t fall off the edge of the virtual world  users can’t move into blank spaces  environment should meet their expectations: sound when an object is hit  experience may be limited, but it folds back on itself, doesn’t end unexpectedly

22. Design Process  How do we design a virtual environment?  No established design methodology, but we can start thinking about the process  start with the theme, what the environment is about  think about the ideal experience, what we could do without technical limitations

23. Design Process  Determine the main features of the experience, what is important, what defines the experience  now think about the technology  how can we translate the ideal experience into something that is technologically feasible?  Preserve the most important aspects of the experience

24. Where do we go from here?  Investigate technology: hardware hardware software software  Look at some tools: modeling modeling environment design environment design

25. Where do we go from here?  Look at some techniques environment design environment design interaction interaction collaboration collaboration  Explore some possibilities where can we take the technology? where can we take the technology? what types of tools do we need? what types of tools do we need? Possible applications Possible applications

26. Themes for this year  Space Multiple people in the same space Multiple people in the same space Multiple spaces for the same person Multiple spaces for the same person Combining the real and the virtual Combining the real and the virtual  Behavior Realistic animal / human behavior Realistic animal / human behavior Interaction with virtual characters Interaction with virtual characters

27. SE  Locally developed VR software  Aimed at artists, not programmers  Support the development of interesting virtual environments  We can easily add features to it, support things of interest