Experimenting With Quest Guardian Floor Area.

Because the Oculus Quest is cable free, there is potential to take advantage of a larger floor area, therefore allowing the viewer to move around a VR gallery freely without having to teleport. In this first experiment I translated the corridor measurements outside my office into a basic VR simulation using UE4 and then set up a guardian floor area in that same location.




Image at end of simulation by Helen Kay

It worked fairly well, except that the guardian floor area did not allow me to map the whole length of the corridor. I seemed to be limited to an area that was about six meters long, so this simulation did not have the intended effect... for me anyway. However, my students loved it because of the precipitous nature of the simulation and it actually turned into a great way of introducing newcomers to the possibilities of VR technologies, e.g. the ability to enter a new type of believable space.


5.5m x 5.5m square gallery.

I used the college gallery to try and work out what the largest guardian area could be defined and it seemed to be about 6m x 6m. I built a basic gallery based on those proportions and while it was nice to walk around teleport free, it felt small and constricted and (of course) did not take advantage of the immense possibility of VR space. However, I do think there is scope for a larger guardian area that allows greater free movement within a simulation to increase the immersiveness of the experience.

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My Research Has Been Published

My research has been published in Blackpool and The Fylde College's Scholarly Review 2019 and it is great to see it in print. An e-version can be viewed here - https://issuu.com/b_and_fc/docs/b_fc_scholarship_review_2019_for__print
please have a look.

  

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First 'Finished' VR Gallery for Oculus Quest

I have had a lot of technical issues and hurdles to overcome, but I have finally managed to produce a VR gallery to a passable standard for the Oculus Quest.

The video below has been captured in UE4 but does run very well on the Quest. Of course the main benefit being that this headset is completely standalone and you don't need to lug a laptop and sensors around to use it, like you do on the Rift... brilliant!

Work exhibited in the gallery is by some of our current students and recent graduates - Helen Kay, Carl Jones, Sophie Gorner, Sian Lakin and Sam Wallis.

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Oculus Quest

One of the problems with the Oculus Rift is the fact that it is tethered to an expensive laptop. For development, this is fine, but when I'm showcasing the VR galleries and technology in busy public areas, the tether becomes a big problem and has been close to disaster a couple of times with the laptop almost being pulled off the table by overly exuberant participants. So, what I really needed was a standalone VR headset... I tried briefly, with an Oculus Go, but I was unable to connect it to UE4 to test it. However...

 

I now have an Oculus Quest, a standalone headset with greater movement capability and equal in resolution and reactivity to the Rift, without a tether! I had a a few issues setting up UE4 projects for Android (the headset runs on Android) and transferring them onto the headset, but below is the first test project I managed to play/view. This means I can now showcase The VR Gallery Project on equipment that fits in a normal sized bag. So far, I am impressed and can't wait to get started on some project ideas I have been working on.





The screen shots of the project in UE4 on the laptop, but I think I can video and screen capture within the Quest. I will write a more in-depth comparison between the Quest and Rift later.

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.

VR Gallery Manifesto

I thought it would be a fun but informative exercise to create a set of rules that governs the creation of a VR art gallery. Of course, these rules may change as my ideas develop and whilst they initially appear quite restrictive, they do allow for a lot of freedom in exhibition design. The idea is that I will test each design against the rules to see how the design and the rules stand up to the process...


VR GALLERY MANIFESTO

1. The gallery must not affect the meaning of a work of art in any way.
2. The gallery must not detract from the inherent value of a work of art.
3. The gallery must not impinge on the view of a work of art if it contravenes the first two rules.
4. The gallery can be used to reinforce the meaning of a work of art but must be done under the instruction of the artist and must not contravene the second and third rule.
5. The gallery should always aim to add value to a work of art as long as it does not contravene the first rule.
6. The gallery can be of any shape or size as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
7. A work of art can be displayed on any surface as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
8. A work of art can be viewed at any angle as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
9. A work of art can be viewed in any environment as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
10. A work of art can be displayed in environments of any colour as long as it does not contravene the first two rules.
11. The gallery design can encompass elements of decoration, exploration and discovery as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
12. Every effort must be made to install and exhibit works of art in a way that is conducive to the viewing experience as long as it does not contravene the first two rules.
13. A work of art can be displayed at any size as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
14. Each work of art (including a sequence and series) must demand the viewers undivided attention and its neighbours should not be visible during this interaction.
15. The viewing experience should be intuitive.
16. The viewing experience must not be greater than the exhibition.

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Khayalan - University of Chester

Art and Design students from the University of Chester have staged a VR art exhibition, using Second Life as a platform to include the wider public.

 


Images: https://1625285.wixsite.com/uniofchester/kuang-s-diary?lightbox=dataItem-jwkgc9up

The supporting blog contains a great overview of the project and can be accessed here.

It is great to see that some of my findings have been identified by someone else in a completely separate project. For example, Chris Millward (University of Chester, 2019), supervisor for the project says "With physical space often in high demand, sometimes it can be difficult for students and staff to experiment with artistic ideas or push the realms of what is possible. The virtual campus that we are creating allows us to explore ideas without “real life” costs or demands on limited space. This project focusses on visualising space and virtually curating exhibitions" which is one of the core aims of my project.

Also, statements from their students, such as - “Through this project we have gained experience in designing, building and curating an exhibition of our own work and although in virtual reality, these experiences can be carried over into the real world and will put us in a good position for when we reach our final year exhibition.” (University of Chester, 2019) - supports the benefits I identified, such as participants increase in confidence in their own work and how it can give a very real sense of learning new [curatorial] skills from the experience.

Interestingly, this is not their first attempt at virtual exhibitions. It appears that they created a similar exhibition back in 2011, but without the access via VR headsets, of course. However, some of the findings and benefits are quite similar!

Ref:
University of Chester. (2019). Second Life project showcases the best in new Art and Design. [online] Available at: https://www1.chester.ac.uk/news/second-life-project-showcases-best-new-art-and-design [Accessed 10 Jul. 2019].

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Sustain at Free Range

VR previsualisation for Sustain exhibition at Free Range in London. UE4 view... The images on the wall are there just to give an idea how a certain sized print will look in the space (ranging from A4 to twice that of A0).

The actual space during set-up... it turned out that I put the roof on at the incorrect angle and made it too high in the simulation.


The view of the final exhibition.


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The Grand Vestibule - Update

I thought I should update you on the progress of the graduate exhibition at Blackpool Winter Gardens, that I used VR to help me design. The exhibition opened on the 6th June. I have been in a further three exhibitions since and this is the first time I have had to bring this blog up-to-date. The exhibition was called PANIC.

Firstly - here is a video of the VR version of the proposed exhibition design that I made to help the graphic designers create a design that worked with the panels and space....

This is from my previous post...


This is a photo of the actual exhibition and private view...


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One Last Question...

I have just finished writing up my research (to 1st draft). And I realised that early in the text I was stating a fact without any evidence for it...but I knew the fact was correct, so it was just about finding the relevant piece of research that backed it up. However, I could not find it! So, yet another questionnaire had to be produced! Luckily I had plenty of willing subjects...

This new questionnaire was designed to find out how many people thought about the size of an artwork when they visited a gallery/exhibition. The participants were aged between 16 and 40 and all are in full time creative arts education at level 3.

Question:
What attracts you to an artwork in an exhibition? (what makes you go and have a look at it?) List everything you can think of.

Result:
Out of 29 respondents only four people included size.

This questionnaire showed us that scale is not something that most people (72.5%) look for, or are aware of when they visit an art exhibition.

 

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More Experimenting...

I have used the last two weeks to try and explore the useable boundaries of VR as an exhibition medium...

Idea for an exhibition of one picture

Does a galley have to be square?

Original ideas in sketchbook

The process of playing with many ideas in a short time has helped me to loosen up (my ideas) and work very quickly, as if using a sketchbook. Some things have worked well and others not so well. I think I am coming to a conclusion of sorts, about what new things VR brings to the exhibition of artworks.

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Experimenting Experimenting Experimenting

I have been experimenting and designing alternative/specific exhibition spaces for VR. I have deliberately kept away from traditional looking gallery spaces (I have mentioned this in previous blogs) and produced a number of designs to try and find the 'thing' that works best in VR, as an exhibition medium/experience in its own right.

The first two videos are a gallery I produced for photographic artist, Libby Nightingale's Invisible Mother project. The gallery is based on the layout of a house.

The next space is about trying to extend the idea of a non-claustrophobic exhibition space that includes an element of exploration. The works in these two galleries are by my final year degree photography students.

The last space plays with scale and the phrase; over, under, through.

Edit (23/04): I thought it would be interesting to include the original sketches/ideas for the galleries...

 

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Video!

I am embarrassed to say, that I have only just sorted out how to video my VR environments. Here is a video of the gallery I created for our 2nd year degree Photography students. Let me know what you think.

More to follow.

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The Grand Vestibule

This is my first post for a couple of weeks. I have been writing up my research ready for submission at the end of the month[ish] and it has been slow going as I have got many questionnaires and notes from focus group meetings to comb through.

I have been using UE4 to design and VR get a feel for the space we are using for our upcoming graduate show in the Grand Vestibule in The Winter Gardens, Blackpool. I spent almost two hours measuring the space, but it only took an hour to piece it together in UE. However, as always, it took a lot longer to create realistic lighting and find usable textures...



Photo of The Grand Vestibule. It's got to be the best name out of many of the spaces I have worked in.









I have the option of adding doors, windows, plants etc., but the initial space gives me a fairly good idea how the exhibition will look in this space. The ceiling is definitely too high!

I will keep you updated... back to analysis etc.

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.