I have just started to plan and design some sort of 'end-of-year' show for Blackpool School of Arts students, as a way of celebrating what they have achieved during these times of remote learning. So the exhibition needs exhibit up to 200 peoples artworks!
However there are some big hurdles to overcome. The most obvious being that only a very few people have access to a usable VR headset. So, at this point, it looks like there will be a combined approach between a VR and screen/web based platform.
At this point (I keep saying this, but things may change dramatically), I am looking to design amazing exhibition spaces in UE4 (for VR), but also capture 360 degree renders for use in an immersive (as much as it can be) web/screen experience.
To do this, I have been looking at Tourweaver (https://www.easypano.com/virtual-tour-software.html). Richard Weston (http://westondigitalimaging.co.uk/), a digital photographer based in Manchester, very kindly offered to generate a test site using 360 renders from my previous projects. And the initial results are quite promising...
(http://vision2020bsoa.co.uk/vr-exhibition/)
The main drawback is that the render resolution in UE4 is a little low, therefore the photographs in Tourweaver look a bit soft. However, the images can be re-edited in later using Affinity or Photoshop.
Some more research and discussions with Blackpool School of Arts are to follow and should result in a clearer idea as to the end point for this project. In the meantime here is a screen shot of my exhibition 'complex' in-progress.
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.
