Virtual Experimentation
One of the things I love about working at the University of Technology Sydney’s Innovation & Creative Intelligence Unit in Building 15 are the opportunities that can emerge from the unexpected.
Recently, our unit ran a new experimental program called ‘Creative Clusters’ which explored two streams of emerging tech: Blockchain technology and Virtual Reality. We held workshops on each theme on alternate Tuesday evenings for 16 weeks, welcoming participants from inside and outside the university. We encouraged everyone to explore the potential of these emerging technologies and engaged in some ‘ideas jamming’ to see what the future could look like (and it looks pretty awesome!). We had an incredible array of guest speakers (hear Mark Pesce’s recent talk at Reality Remixed on the future of VR here) and some very passionate VR and Blockchain enthusiasts.
I must admit that I am a bit biased. I was curious about the potential of virtual reality when I first strapped on a Samsung Gear VR at the Screen NSW 360 Vision Lab in back in June and saw my first example of ‘cinematic VR” in Lynette Wallworth’s VR experience “Collisions”. I had also used the HTC Vive briefly at the Bjork Digital exhibition at Carriageworks, but when our HTC Vive arrived in the office in July I could barely contain my excitement.
Here was our chance for our participants to get really hands-on with the technology and explore its potential in a very tangible way. As well as looking at creating content for the Vive, we could also play with the vast array of experiences on the STEAM platform such as Google’s 3D painting app “Tiltbrush”, solving engineering dilemmas in “Fantastic Contraption” and explore esoteric immersion in an unknown universe with “Irrational Exuberance”.
We entered the prototyping phase half way through the program with three groups experimenting with different aspects of the technology — two groups undertook experiments in filming 360 video and one group created virtual worlds in software program Unity.
One group, Directed by Masters of Media Arts Production student Tine Pia Jensen, shot a 360 music video of Triple J unearthed band PIRRA performing their single ‘Hunter’. This was a pretty special collaboration between a small group of UTS staff, students and non-UTS participants working with Tristan and Sean from boutique agency Chello, all shot within the space of 2 hours.
It also became an unexpected opportunity to document the unique space on level 4 of our building (UTS Bldg 15) before demolition and refurbishment erased all traces of the previous tenants — the TAFE painting and decorating class who’s students used all of the walls to learn how to… paint and decorate. With very unusual tiny interconnected rooms covered in an eclectic range of 70s/80s style wallpaper and painted mouldings, it added a slightly surreal aspect to the 360 video.
There are many aspects to shooting in 360 which completely break the traditional paradigms of conventional filming and music videos in 360 is no different!
Apart from all of the obvious challenges such as finding an appropriate pillar to hide behind during the shoot, the filmmakers needed to give consideration to camera height (360 seems to exaggerate the height when viewed within VR), the choreography of EVERYONE in the shot, and how that might impact the process of stitching in post production.
And of course the viewer experience is drastically different. Consideration to sound ‘prompts’ in order to draw the viewer’s attention in the direction of the action goes out the window during a 360 music video so the editing also becomes more crucial. Viewing the video on YouTube 360 is also a very different experience to viewing it in VR in the Gear VR or HTC Vive where you don’t have to scroll with your mouse to explore the space.
Many lessons were learned for all concerned, but a lot of fun was also had!
Many thanks to UTS Media Arts Production first year student Claire Hanna who documented the shoot and the space and to the enthusiastic Creative Cluster participants who made the program a resounding success.
Here is the final version.
