THE POETICS OF SPACE

Graduate VR class / experiments
Unity 3D, Blender, Oculus Rift
2017 | NYU ITP

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Role

Designed concept and spatial experience
Programmed three different of VR pieces

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This is my very first attempt to create a VR scene. As a big fan of animation Gundam and a sci-fi films like Contact or Interstellar, I am always curious about how humans will survive in the space and what is actually beyond the solar system. The first thing I should consider was ‘where’ they live, so instead of illustarting a city on the surface of planets, I included a space colony, which is the cylindical shape and often depicted in the Gundam animation. Next, I choose the main theme as ‘lost’, because the most impactful scene of the sci-fi movies for me is always not a magnificent explosion or encountering with aliens, but just being alone in the space. Lastly, I added ramdonly floating objects as well as two light souces and portal with connected particle lines in order to arise imagination for viewers. Some could think there was an war and others might think something huge is exploding or indicating a new dimension.

The main mission was managing scenes in VR with my own concept. My following journey has started from a question ‘What if I can freely move or swim in a space?’ For this, I developed a moving component which goes slowly with one direction and automatically changes its rotation angle to where the sight goes. After that, I learned how to manipulate physics and randomize instances and then applied them to additional scenes.

In-between is an experimental and cinematic VR art piece which illustrates the emotional connection between human and space. Staring in wonder, the precisely designed audio-visual environment invites viewers into the unique and visceral moment.