Week 8

VR Art

Nicole Ruggiero, “No ESC”

https://www.nicoleruggiero.com/project/no-esc/

This was the first VR art piece I’ve ever experienced, and that experience was also the first time I ever used VR. This piece was exhibited at VR World NYC during the event “Virtually Real,” a curated show that bridges the gap between virtual reality and fine art. Due to requirement of needing a headset, this piece, like all other VR pieces, forces the viewer to have an intimate experience with the content shown, and guides the viewer to ignore the outside world they were just in. In this piece specifically, it lets the viewer explore the space around them, lets them follow the narrative presented to them, and gives them power to manipulate the world around them however they wish to with the materials given to them (Which in this case, happens to be violent weaponry) . The piece is programmed to be fairly short to allow for a steady flow of participants, like 5 or so minutes, but in-game that time doesn’t feel as short due to the immersive experience the viewer is having. I enjoy seeing how artists pace their work for VR pieces and how that factors to the experience.

Readings

Seeing these pieces from 2-3 decades ago really shows how far technology has come. Much of the vr devices back then were very claustrophobic, choppy, and very low quality, and thus would hamper the experience of viewing an artwork in the medium. When someone is more frustrated using the device to see the art, then the art is not come across well. It’s a good thing more progress has been made in VR technology to allow for full motion tracking, better screen DPI, larger screens, and higher frame rates; this will allow a genre of art have boost necessary to become more explored and showcased.