
VR is opening up new ways to experience art - praveenscience
https://www.androidpit.com/vr-new-ways-to-experience-art
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llamathrowaway
I wonder if people’s perception of 'modern' paintings will change if they view
them through VR.

Many modern paintings are massive in scale (bigger than my bedroom in some
cases) and/or have many thick, voluminous layers of paint. Jackson Pollock is
a good example. Those paintings look plain and childish when viewed on a tiny
screen that fits in your pocket, as you don’t feel their scale, you don’t
sense the depth of the paint and its texture, and maybe, you are also not in a
suitable environment to view the arts. (IIRC some Mark Rothko paintings are
displayed in dedicated rooms with dim light, as desired by the artist.)

But if you view those arts through VR, you can get a lossless, holistic view
of the artwork. It can even be better than viewing in person as there is no
crowd standing in front taking photos...

~~~
andybak
When people ask me what unique things VR brings over other viewing
technologies my answer is quite often "scale".

You can get 3D via stereoscopic displays. You can get the realism and wrap-
around view from huge monitors or projectors but VR let's you see the true
scale of something in a way that no other technology can (aside from "actually
being there").

For viewing objects where their scale is a critical aspect, VR is invaluable.
Aside from arts, architecture is another obvious candidate.

~~~
b_tterc_p
I haven’t found any games that exploit this yet. Traditionally it has been
very difficult to make games that feature truly large entities that behave
actively and not in very broad and uninterested patterns due to things like
camera constraints and what not. Shadow of Colossus and it’s siblings come to
mind as close examples of this almost working. But VR could make it great.

~~~
wlesieutre
I haven't played it (VR or otherwise) but I've heard Subnautica VR makes you
feel very small in a big scary ocean.

~~~
andybak
Dear God, Yes. And also claustrophobic.

Underwater volcanic caves... With __things__ in...

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pault
On the subject, I just received an oculus quest, and I'm pretty blown away by
it. I know that it will never compete with a PC-tethered device on image
quality, but the quality is _good enough_ and they have nailed almost every
inconvenience that would stop the layperson from using VR regularly. It's
lightweight, it's wireless, you don't need a dedicated room, the UX is
seamless; you can just pick it up and start playing a game within 10 seconds.
I've been on the sidelines of VR waiting for the inflection point where the
technology is ready to go mainstream, and if this device isn't it, it's close.

~~~
wincy
I was recently at a purported “VRCade” and was expecting to have the same sort
of experience you’re describing. Instead I got to play some of the dumbest
games with the most terrible graphics I’ve ever experienced.

If that had been my only experience with VR I’d think it was stupid. Having
owned a VR headset before I know better, but others might be really turned off
by that.

~~~
pault
Are you saying that the quest has stupid games with terrible graphics? The
ones I've played are only slightly scaled down from the rift games I've
played. Beat saber, space pirate trainer, super hot, etc are all on the quest
and are just as amazing as ever. I don't think VR is the right format for
hardcore PC gaming, if that's your complaint. The platform really shines with
simple games with clever emergent gameplay.

~~~
wincy
I am not, sorry if it came across that way. I'm saying I'm concerned for VR
when commercial entities somehow trawl the bottom of the barrel for low
quality VR experiences to scam people out of their money. I used to own a Rift
and it far exceeded the experiences of a VRCade, but I fear someone interested
in VR might go to a place wanting to experience "state of the art" VR and
write it off as terrible.

I'm hopeful Quest will mitigate these sorts of things.

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jobigoud
I am convinced art is one of VR killer apps.

First we have VR-native art. Like Quill, Tiltbrush, Medium, etc. that let you
lay down paint strokes in mid air in space for volumetric illustrations (an
entirely new medium that didn't exist before), or sculpt virtual objects.

Then we have VR as a mean to create 3D assets for games. Medium, Gravity
sketch, etc. Sculpt in VR, export, retopo. Same as what you'd do with a ZBrush
workflow except you sculpt the thing organically. Currently most useful for
organic shapes, possibly hard surfaces depending on the tool used.

Coming soon, VR for rigging and animating assets.

Then we have VR-based museums for traditional art. Then VR-based museums for
VR-based art.

Then we have VR for movie pre-production, where it is used to visit a movie
set before it is fully built, like Spielberg used in Ready Player One. This
can also be used to figure out key shots angles.

~~~
crtasm
I'm looking forward to trying the new Nintendo VR kit, the cardboard elephant
head lets you sketch/sculpt in 3D. Plus you get to be an elephant.

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notus
The only comment so far is someone named Mark who said, "If you consider that
art maybe the article has merit. I guess I am just to old school and really do
not see the example in this article as art. I see it as computer generated
graphics not art."

I'm surprised people still think this way.

~~~
linuxftw
I feel this way. Similar to how I don't consider online acquaintances actual
friends.

On the other hand, I would consider the program that creates such graphics a
work of art, but the graphics themselves are merely derivatives and have no
special value to me.

Instead of seeing anything computer generated as 'amazing' anymore, it's just
'so what?' The N64 was amazing, everything since then is an improvement, to be
sure, but not amazing. Probably similar to the first train ever built, that
was probably amazing, new trains, while superior in every way, not amazing.

~~~
jobigoud
Have you seen artworks made in Tiltbrush or Quill?

Here are some examples out of many many more:

Wired by Zeyu Ren. [https://vimeo.com/308957829](https://vimeo.com/308957829)

Alex's Sci-fi World by Matt Shaeffer.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWNo1H2tVhg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWNo1H2tVhg)

Bird Gamayun by Anna Zhilyaeva
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUW49IKs1kE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUW49IKs1kE)

~~~
linuxftw
Maybe these are really impressive in an immersive 3D type setting, but those
videos just look like animations to me. I would not consider these things art.

~~~
jobigoud
Even the last one (or her other pieces)? It's basically a traditional painting
but in space. You don't think the old masters would have loved to paint their
masterpieces in volumes instead of on flat canvas?

~~~
randomsearch
No doubt that if the Renaissance were happening now, the masters would be
working in VR.

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ereyes01
I'm a huge Dan Carlin / Hardcore History fan, and I can't wait to see this VR
exhibit he has helped put together:
[https://www.warremains.com/](https://www.warremains.com/)

It's an immersive view into what it was like to be in the Western Front of
World War 1. To me this demonstrates what the VR medium can do for art:
immersive experience.

With the current technology, I doubt looking at a painting will be as good as
in person due to low resolution, not feeling the same, etc. But creating an
immersive experience seems to offer many interesting opportunities for the
artist that are not possible using other physical mediums.

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enoreyes
I am looking forward to the day that we can walk through a computer-generated
infinite gallery in virtual reality, looking at paintings and sculptures
entirely generated by machine learning algorithms. Humans are going to have to
catch up!

~~~
onemoresoop
I tend to disagree, if it's computer generated it is not art in the general
sense. Art is the expression and application of human creative skill and
imagination and AI doesn't have any creativity nor imagination, nor does it
have any context within the current culture.

However, art can exist within this context if humans are involved somehow or
have some input, and I don't mean just the coder's input.

~~~
wlesieutre
_> However, art can exist within this context if humans are involved somehow
or have some input, and I don't mean just the coder's input._

How can you draw that line? If a coder is working on a generative art project,
writes an algorithm, runs it, likes the result, is that not art?

Is an iterative process required where the coder throws away the first results
and revises their system until they personally feel it's been sufficiently
arted?

~~~
cameronbrown
Not to mention the amount of human art data the model is likely based on
anyway.

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nickthegreek
Also new ways to create art. Tilt Brush is really cool and offers some great
creation tools, but I love Medium even more.

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fearai
vr IS art.

just because someone identifies as an "artist" and makes vr doesn't mean they
are making "vr art" and a graphics programmer is not making art. human
creative expression is art whether made by an "artist" or programmer.

now for the smarter humans/bots to tell us how it really is. thank you.

~~~
andybak
I can't parse your second paragraph. It sounds like you're making two
contradictory points. Can you reword it?

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aphextron
Shameless plug for someone I consider to be the most talented, creative artist
I know of today: Isaac Cohen

[https://cabbi.bo/](https://cabbi.bo/)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HrSzzm46SM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HrSzzm46SM)

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKqO1GCq6Ni1qZvv2ysIt8w/vid...](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKqO1GCq6Ni1qZvv2ysIt8w/videos)

A lot of his VR stuff needs to be experienced to really appreciate, but having
spent hundreds of hours in VR I'm convinced this is the most powerful usage of
the technology so far. Traditional art has hit a dead end today and this is
the path forward.

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tdonia
Reminds me of Giphy's Museum of GIF Art // many of Planeta.cc's works

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intrasight
Last week, enroute to my daughter's graduation in New Haven, I stopped in Mass
MoCA to see Laurie Anderson's "Chalkroom" (note: you have to reserve a slot
which I had done).

If you have not experience VR art or have been disappointed by what you have
experienced, then do yourself a favor and get to North Adams, MA to experience
Chalkroom.

[http://www.laurieanderson.com/?portfolio=chalkroom](http://www.laurieanderson.com/?portfolio=chalkroom)

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mettamage
In the same vein, checkout Draw with Jazza's videos on VR [1].

[1] E.g.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eXwIyZ-H8o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eXwIyZ-H8o)

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departure
What is the best way to create VR art? I'm very interested in the medium but
currently do not have a rig or capable home computer, but am not opposed to
picking one up. Any recommendations?

~~~
corysama
Repeating that art in VR is pretty much always made using Unreal, Unity or
maybe Three.js

But, if you are specifically interested in making art IN VR, there's
[https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/hacking-
maker/7...](https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/hacking-maker/7-best-
tools-for-painting-3d-modelling-sculpting-in-vr/) There's also
[https://www.notch.one/for-vr/](https://www.notch.one/for-vr/) which is pricey
for pros but £99 for private use.

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bluetwo
Just to put this out there, there is a trend in art in which communities are
forming large, immersive PHYSICAL art installations.

For instance, Meow Wolf.

I am more excited by this than I am VR/AR technology in art.

