Five day VRaycation

I spent five full days over New Year\’s playing with an HTC Vive. Which is interesting in NYC apartment, since half the furniture had to be moved to make room for the motion tracking units mounted on two spindly tripods! As an artist as well as a tech enthusiast, it was an interesting experience. So much to try out.

I have a book\’s worth of impressions and opinions coming out of the experience, but quickly – my favorite: hands down, Blortasia by Kevin Mack, a neuroscientist and artist. It\’s a psychedelic drift through an ever changing, pulsing, organic color blitz. Absolutely, mind bogglingly, surreally, beautiful. I love that he\’s not adapting something to fit into VR, he\’s actually designing something for the medium; one of the few, I think, who \”gets\” it.

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His work is inspired by transcendent visions, nature, and technology, and is informed by research in a wide range of fields from neuroscience to artificial life. Not to mention, I\’m guessing it\’s a lot like taking mushrooms! Blortasia is being used in therapy and it\’s effects are the subject of a medical research study. Now *that\’s* a use for VR I can get behind.

The other favorite was (of course – as an artist): Tiltbrush. But I wasn\’t as in love with it as I should have been….it\’s purely a paint stroke program (I called it \”the MS Paint of VR\”) and I really missed being able to create actual solid objects. Perhaps a hangover from my CAD roots – nevertheless, I persisted, and determined to grok the program as best possible, after a while realized how to get the most out of it (hint: don\’t try to be precise).

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Here\’s a glimpse of one of the worlds I created – a flock of beautiful glowing birds. I made another with huge pulsating jellyfish hanging from the sky, so you could stand in between the tentacles; that one\’s for another day.

That book-length blog post is coming, about everything from the experience to the content, user interface to opportunities – just wanted to jot down some initial thoughts to start.

Face Swapping: Deepfakes

\"\"Face-swapping celebrity faces onto porn performers’ bodies (\”Deepfakes\”). It\’s a thing

Yes, it\’s about porn….but it\’s not: if Photoshop has played a major role in bending \”reality\” the point where no one believes a photo any more, just wait until the same \”bending reality\” happens easily, with video. How will anyone know what\’s \”real\” ??

Will there be clipart galleries, just waiting for faces to be superimposed on them?

What about superimposing faces on bodies in VR? – wonder if actors will make deals with entertainment producers to license their faces into VR/AR content, not at the studio level (that\’s a big \”duh\” – is cheaper and less hassle than actually dealing with a live person) but as something fans can pay to use in their own content (dare I say it, fantasies?).

I did talk a little bit about this back in 2011. It is obviously, an inevitability – a natural progression of visual manipulation. But are we ready for this? Legally? Ethically?

 

 

Alternative uses for VR: Training for real life

This is an excellent case study in how VR can be used for training. Of all types. Some of the commenters don\’t understand why inmates get to \”play\” with VR for free, while \”regular\” people can\’t afford headsets…VR can be about play, of course; but it\’s also a powerful tool to help someone \”practice\” interacting with others. It\’s potentially a huge empathy building tool. I was asked this morning how it could be used to train young women to deal with bullying, and harassment, for example. Will give that one a think too.

https://www.facebook.com/VICE/videos/945557605604190/

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