The data I was mainly looking for concerned the experience versus the content of the gallery. My thinking being that if people are overwhelmed by the experience then they are not necessarily going to look at the artworks objectively... or do they?
I asked three main questions - Have you been exposed to a VR experience before? What did you think of the experience? and What did you think about the [art] work?
I had 45 good responses split equally between those who had been exposed to VR and those who had not. The initial results possibly supports my original thoughts, as people who had never used VR before tended to rate both questions differently and rated the artwork consistently lower than the experience, whereas people who had used VR before rated both questions equally.
The artworks included in the gallery are a selection of the best images produced by our students and included a recreation of an exhibition of photography by Sean Conboy, an internationally successful architectural photographer. The images are arguably good ones and the experience of visiting a gallery, should never be greater than the artworks! Which ia the reason I have come to my initial conclusion
I am afraid I didn't take any photographs of the visitors interacting with my VR setup as it was quite busy.
Findings
The immediate problem, with this fairly new technology and highlighted by the focus group, is that not many people have had previous experience in it and those that haven't may not give an objective and thoughtful response to any questions about it. This may be because they are in awe of the technology and may be blind to the content and may not be able to give meaningful feedback and data on which to base an accurate conclusion.
This was the first issue to address, so a VR gallery was prepared, accurately based on the Blackpool and The Fylde College (B&FC) gallery and high quality photographs by a well known international and professional photographer were exhibited in the space, in an exact replica of an exhibition held in December 2017.
The Gallery was presented at the UCAS, Create Your Own Future, fare at Manchester (November 2018) and the participants were asked three main questions: on a scale of one to four - Have you been exposed to a VR experience before? What did you think of the experience? and What did you think about the [art] work?
There were 45 good responses split equally between those who had been previously exposed to VR and those who had not.
The results showed that people who had never used VR before tended to rate both questions differently and rated the artwork consistently lower than the experience, whereas people who had used VR before rated both questions equally.
The artworks included in the gallery are a selection of the best images produced by B&FC students and a recreation of an exhibition of photography by Sean Conboy, an internationally successful architectural photographer. The images are arguably good ones and the experience of visiting a gallery, should never be greater than the artworks, which is the reason for the conclusion.
This initial hurdle was overcome with the inclusion of the question, have you experienced VR before, in subsequent questionnaires during this project. Also, it was decided to set up a subdivision of the focus group that was to be exposed to VR to a greater extent than the others. This group was called the ‘immersive group’ and could be relied upon to have ‘got over’ the initial experience of VR because they were ensured to be exposed to it more.
If you are reading this blog and feel you can add something to my research then please comment… even if you are correcting me or don’t agree with something that I say.
Findings
The immediate problem, with this fairly new technology and highlighted by the focus group, is that not many people have had previous experience in it and those that haven't may not give an objective and thoughtful response to any questions about it. This may be because they are in awe of the technology and may be blind to the content and may not be able to give meaningful feedback and data on which to base an accurate conclusion.
This was the first issue to address, so a VR gallery was prepared, accurately based on the Blackpool and The Fylde College (B&FC) gallery and high quality photographs by a well known international and professional photographer were exhibited in the space, in an exact replica of an exhibition held in December 2017.
The Gallery was presented at the UCAS, Create Your Own Future, fare at Manchester (November 2018) and the participants were asked three main questions: on a scale of one to four - Have you been exposed to a VR experience before? What did you think of the experience? and What did you think about the [art] work?
There were 45 good responses split equally between those who had been previously exposed to VR and those who had not.
The results showed that people who had never used VR before tended to rate both questions differently and rated the artwork consistently lower than the experience, whereas people who had used VR before rated both questions equally.
The artworks included in the gallery are a selection of the best images produced by B&FC students and a recreation of an exhibition of photography by Sean Conboy, an internationally successful architectural photographer. The images are arguably good ones and the experience of visiting a gallery, should never be greater than the artworks, which is the reason for the conclusion.
This initial hurdle was overcome with the inclusion of the question, have you experienced VR before, in subsequent questionnaires during this project. Also, it was decided to set up a subdivision of the focus group that was to be exposed to VR to a greater extent than the others. This group was called the ‘immersive group’ and could be relied upon to have ‘got over’ the initial experience of VR because they were ensured to be exposed to it more.
