Van Gogh experience Virtual Reality (VR)
I am not a big art fan. Especially with it being so up to interpretation and abstract, it usually bores me. However, I recently got a chance to visit the Van Gogh exhibition which includes a 360º immersive experience of his art and journey throughout his life. It was held in a cathedral where all the walls, including the floor, had projections on them. It was quite a spectacle, bringing the audience through his thought process and showcasing his artwork and this was just the beginning.
After the 35 minutes showcase, there is a VR experience which included a headset, speakers and we were seated on a chair that allowed us to turn 360º. It brought us through the time periods and locations where Van Gogh was inspired and explained the motivation behind each painting.
One of the more famous pieces that were showcased was Starry Night. We were brought to the exact location of the painting, with Van Gogh “narrating” his thought process; like the colors he saw and why he decided to use a particular color in the art. I liked that the information was easy to digest on top of the fact that we could see what Van Gogh saw and thought when he was painting the various art pieces.
However, one thing I think can be improved is the mobility of the experience. I think it would have been better if we could walk through the whole “exhibit” as if we were in that time period and explore the area and paintings at our own pace. This could be done by providing users with controllers and adding demarcations in the VR to allow users to move around the area without having a big venue to move around in.
VR brings art to life, making it easier for people to understand the artist’s point of view. This reinvents museums and strays away from traditional art galleries, which is likely to attract more youths to the art scene.
Zero Latency (Sol Raiders)
VR in gaming is nothing new anymore. With the rise of games like Beat Saber, it pushes innovation and the possibility of multiplayer games. Zero Latency is a free-roaming, multi-player VR experience providing games such as Survivor, Outbreak Origin, and Sol Raiders. I, alongside 7 players participated in Sol Raiders which is a 4v4 game, where the objective is to complete as many tasks and minimize the number of deaths on each team.
I do not usually play first-player shooter-type games but this was so much fun! After putting on the vest, headset, headphones, and guns we were transported into the game dimension and all the players (teammates and opponents) were dressed up like robots! Everything was so life-like, it really felt like I was a robot in that reality, especially with the sound effects.
At some point during the game, I felt very lightheaded because of the mismatch between the real world and the game world. The game world was multi-dimensional with slopes and lifts while the real world was a flat ground room. So walking up the slopes and taking the lifts were disorientating.
I think one thing that can be improved is the UI of the headset. The existing screen did not include any information about the game status, only showing it on the screen at the end of each round. Since this was a team game with a common objective, the screen could have included more information like the number of kills/deaths and objectives fulfilled. This would allow us to better plan our game instead of constantly trying to keep track of these data.
Overall, I think the game was very well done, especially since it had to sync the 8 players throughout the game.
References
[1] Google maps. [Online]. Available: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Van+Gogh:+The+Immersive+Experience+York/@53.9571904,-1.0809633,3a,83.9y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipO3uPo03Wb4cJR9A05JAQ7rzK_QfEesIPJ3zPY8!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO3uPo03Wb4cJR9A05JAQ7rzK_QfEesIPJ3zPY8%3Dw203-h135-k-no!7i1024!8i682!4m7!3m6!1s0x48793130726fa6ed:0x651d1a44837b68c1!8m2!3d53.9572689!4d-1.0808674!14m1!1BCgIgARICGAI. [Accessed: 20-Jan-2023].
[2] “Van Gogh: The immersive experience,” YouTube, 24-Feb-2021. [Online]. Available: https://youtu.be/dZkQSjZYsgc?t=60. [Accessed: 20-Jan-2023].
[3] “Sol Raiders – trailer – zero latency VR,” YouTube, 07-Feb-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADOEuzyYstc&%3Bab_channel=ZeroLatencyVR. [Accessed: 20-Jan-2023].
[4] “Zero Latency’s Latest Free-Roam Experience Made Me A Believer In VR Esports” VRScout, 10-Aug-2018. [Online]. Available: https://vrscout.com/news/zero-latency-vr-esports/. [Accessed: 20-Jan-2023].
[5] “Sol Raiders,” Zero Latency Luxembourg, 07-Aug-2022. [Online]. Available: https://zerolatencyvr.lu/en/experiences/sol-raiders/. [Accessed: 20-Jan-2023].