Projecting Art into Virtual Reality. Creating artistic scenes through parametrization utilizing a modern game-engine

Abstract

Recent advancements in virtual reality both on the hardware and software front have made high-quality virtual reality experiences both cheaper, and easier to obtain. This thesis aims to explore how virtual reality can be used as a new medium for digital artists, and how virtual reality as a medium changes how a user experiences art. A successful attempt is made to create a solution for creating and parameterizing artistic scenes inside virtual reality through a visual node-based scripting language. This thesis presents the results of applying this solution to two works of art by Hariton Pushwagner. In addition, a secondary solution attempts to translate The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali into an interactive virtual reality experience. An analysis of response from a public viewing session of the scenes resulting from the solution is provided. The virtual reality scenes produced by the solution transmit scale, space, and movement particularly well. Several respondents reported that virtual reality as a medium placed them in an active viewing position, creating a very different experience in comparison to viewing the original two-dimensional artwork.