Our physical surroundings, a world of objects, bodies, and structures, are not as solid as they seem to be. In the virtual reality exhibition, Temporal World, visitors are invited to explore a virtual world that emphasizes the emphermality and impermanence of our environments and the similarly shifting nature of memory, playfully encouraging them to engage their senses in new ways. These new ways of engaging, and in turn understanding, help create a more nuanced and complex understanding of our interactions and, often invisible, dynamics within our everyday environments.
While wearing a custom haptic jacket which sends vibrational feedback through the body, participants enter the Oculus headset to find a virtual world composed of 3D scanned sights and soundscapes of Berlin. These immersive environments are made of particles that shift and swarm according to the user’s movements and interactions. The faster one navigates through space, the more chaotic particle movements become. Forms deform, the discernible becomes indiscernible. As a result, stillness and moving slowly is necessary to take in and engage with the intricacies of this environment.
Reactions within the virtual environment are visible not only in the morphing particle systems, but also heard through the evolving spatial sound, and felt through live translations of the sound from the virtual world to vibrational feedback patterns sent to the haptic jacket. This emphasis on the touch experience is present while exploring the virtual world, and continues as visitors create their own sound and haptic experiences.
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While wearing a custom haptic jacket which sends vibrational feedback through the body, participants enter the Oculus headset to find a single-user virtual world composed of 3D scanned sights and soundscapes of Berlin.
Jacket translates sound from the virtual world to vibrational feedback on the user's body on 42 points on the upper body, including the neck, arms, finger tips. The design also includes a bass belt.
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The New Media Caucus Microgrant Fund supports equity, inclusion, and diversity of our community through unrestricted grants of up to $500 to underrepresented artists and scholars in the field of new media art at any stage of their career. In addition to monetary support, grant awardees receive support in the form of an exhibition in the NMC Header/Footer Gallery.
