The final workshop consisted of creating some VR immersive art. VR immersive art is an art style that is not limited to being in a frame like other types of art and can surpass a viewer’s field of view (Foster, C., 2022). This allows it to be viewed from a variety of different angles and encompasses different aspects such as projections, virtual reality and soundscapes. It’s made using various different VR tools such as gravity sketch (this is a tool that allows designers to create, design and prototype multiple different 3D objects/models collaboratively (Gravity Sketch, 2019)) and open brush (this tool allows you to paint in virtual reality by using a 3D space (Open Brush, 2020)).
What is XR (Extended Reality) and Mixed Reality?
Mixed Reality is a type of immersive technology that combines elements from the real world and the virtual world to make a new experience altogether. Like with VR and AR, it can be used to train people in a safe environment, as well a entertainment and immersive learning . It can also be used for gamification, which is process in which you take game like elements and add them into something like a task to encourage others to participate in something (like an event for instance) (Merriam-Webster, 2019) and it lacks the interactivity issue that AR seems to have. However it has similar concerns to AR and VR in regards to health and safety as well as social interaction and tracking accuracy. Mixed Reality also has the disadvantage of being in its infancy, therefore reducing the amount of hardware that it can access and the amount of content that it can make at this current time (Narasimhan, S., 2023).
Meanwhile, XR is just a broader term used to describe every immersive technology that we have so far (VR, AR, MR) and any future immersive technologies that we might have in the future (Marr, B., 2019).
Adobe Aero AR
We were tasked with making a project using this software as a group so we would have turns in using the software as required. However, before we were able to make VR projects we were tasked with creating an adobe aero AR project on the ipads, which was fairly simple to do. Adobe Aero is an Augmented Reality application which allows you to create and design interactive marker less AR (this uses simultaneous localisation and mapping in order to place objects in the environment) projects for mobile devices without the need to code (Adobe, n.d.). We added some objects to the AR scene including a T-Rex, Armadillo and a bunch of random shapes and objects from the default asset list and adjusted their location, size and rotation amongst the scene. Aero allows you to make the objects interactable with a trigger box as well but I did not get to explore that properly. However, from what I have seen, it seems pretty effective and I could see myself using Aero for an interactive AR experience for mobile devices.
An AR experience that I thought of making using Adobe Aero would be an interactive experience with the wendigo model that I have made and a bunch of other creatures which you can keep away by tapping at them (sort of like fnaf AR, but with way less content due to the scope of the project), the viewer can’t die and it will encourage the viewer to look around their surroundings to ensure that they can find the different creatures on the map.
Gravity Sketch VR
The next piece of software that we used was Gravity Sketch. We just messed around with the overall controls, brushes, and shapes for this exercise but there are various different brushes for different functions. I made a simple tree with branches so that I would not make anything too complex. With a ribbon brush I made an orange base and branches and with a simple brush I made leaves with 2 shades of green. I was surprised by how simple this software was to use, despite it being one of the first times I have used a VR headset as the controls are easy to follow and you draw by holding the right from trigger button along the 3D space. Overall I had fun whilst making this tree but it did turn out a bit messy at the end. This can be used practically for quick concepts or standalone art but otherwise I do not see any other practical use for this software as of yet.
Shapes XR (VR)
The following piece of software that we used is called Shapes XR. Shapes XR is a VR software that allows you to prototype and design games, 3D environments and spatial apps in VR hardware, XR or a browser, without needing to code (Shapes XR, 2024). We also had the benefit of of connecting shapes XR on a browser so one of us could manipulate the scene in a browser whilst the other would do it in the headset. At first I manipulated some shapes in the browser, so I managed to make a transparent tube with a transparent cone on top and a transparent egg which I coloured in various different colours, as well as a ramp model with some extra parts added on top of it. In the headset version you are able to have more freedom with the shapes you create, and it’s easier to create more complex patterns within the scene but otherwise it functions really similarly to the browser version.
My final verdict on this software is that it still needs a lot to work on, especially if it comes to adding more options in the menus, especially if it comes to adding more interaction events or more customisability in what you can create. However, it does have some features that can be fun to use and I definitely see how it could be easier for newer game developers to learn from this tool.
Open Brush VR
The last VR immersive art software that we explored with was Open Brush. Like with Gravity Sketch, you can create various 3D art projects using an assortment of brushes however it seems as though there are more options in this form of VR software compare to the previous two, with a wider range of brushes and styles I could go for. So I firstly started by drawing a bow, which was actually fairly simple to draw, maybe because of the freedom of movement that you have whilst using the brushes like with gravity sketch, since you draw with the your arms full range of motion. I then decided to make a mess of a bush, a club, a blade and a stickman following that, using a range of different colours for each, but I could not figure out how to return to a previous colour or how to delete certain segments from an art piece (though I would assume that there was an option for that somewhere). Overall, I could see some practical uses for this particular software, though similarly to gravity sketch I would put it uses for like concepts or standalone art pieces rather than making a use for them in any other capacity.
How would I use this VR software?
Like I mentioned previously, I do not see any practical use for these VR immersive software as of yet, but I could see them being used in a variety of different scenarios in the future. If I were to ever use this practically, I would probably use them to teach/show different art techniques to viewers, with either visual or written prompts or even show my artistic talent with various different drawings, like various different artists do in this medium.