For Immediate Release
June 1993
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The Virtopia Virtual Reality Project %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Orlando, Florida Welcome to Virtopia - an artistic virtual world in the
making. Designed as a constantly expanding series of emotional adventures,
Virtopia is a work-in-progress that provides a multi-sensory feeling of total
immersion within several three dimensional computer generated worlds. A barren
and lonely desert interface holds a number of oases which become portals to
experiences such as animated rooms full of haunting images, or a 20 foot high
temperamental spider whose behavior is dependent upon yours.
The work is a collaborative effort by Designer Jacquelyn Ford Morie and World
Builder Mike Goslin of Orlando's Visual Systems Lab, a division of the
University of Central Florida's Institute for Simulation and Training. The
project grew out the observation that most of the virtual worlds being created
today are strictly utilitarian - designed to provide opportunities such as
walkthroughs of buildings before construction begins. "Virtual worlds can be
unparalled vehicles for personal expression," states Morie. "The problem is
that most of the tools for this new medium have not been available to artists
yet. Virtual reality will explode as a dynamic medium for artistic expression
as access increases. Creative forces have the potential ultimately to decide
what virtual reality will become." Morie's background is well suited to this
new area of expression, with advanced degrees in both fine art and computer
science, and a ten year exhibition record of her innovative comput!
er graphics artwork. For her, the
creation of virtual environments is the ultimate way to work. "It provides the
means to involve the viewer as a total participant in the artwork, making him
or her an active part of the art."
The psychological element in virtual environments is equally important to the
degree of immersion a participant experiences. Mike Goslin, the other half of
the creative team, contributes a degree in psychology as well as years of
artistic experimentation to Virtopia. Currently pursuing a masters' degree in
computer science, Goslin sees virtual reality as "one of HuxleyUs famous doors,
thrown open to expose the mind of the creator, or any other place you might
care to visit. Its potential is only limited by oneUs imagination."
Virtopia premiered at the opening night of second annual Florida Film Festival
at Orlando, May 28th, 1993, hosted by Enzian Theater. The Florida Film
Festival is the very first to recognize the importance that virtual
environments will have in shaping the future of entertainment media. In
addition, a free Virtual Reality Seminar discussing the making of Virtopia and
its impact on art, film, and society was presented by the creators of Virtopia
on Sunday, June 6th, 1993 .
contact:
Jacquelyn Ford Morie
Institute for Simulation and Training
Visual Systems Lab
12424 Research Parkway, Suite 300
Orlando, FL 32826
407.658.5099
morie@xxxxxxxxxxx
************************** VIRTOPIA Descriptions ***********************
Virtopia is a virtual world of emotions, memories, dreams, and wishes. It is
designed to be a haunting place, a place that may get your adrenaline pumping,
a place that may bring you to tears.
The interface for Virtopia is unlikely - a mostly barren desert punctuated by
verdant oases. The traveler to Virtopia can wander through this desert and
enter into any of the various oases. When he does, he will find that it is a
portal into an experience designed to evoke some emotional response. The exact
response will vary for the individual in the experience, since what that
experience suggests to a particular person will be influenced by that personUs
life experiences and psychological makeup and tendencies.
The Virtopia Project was conceived last fall by Jacquelyn Ford Morie and Mike
Goslin, of the Visual Systems Lab at the Institute for Simulation and Training.
The idea was to make virtual worlds that allowed for more than simply letting
one walk around inside a 3 dimensional computer model. This work so far is the
result of very initial stages of exploration and prototyping. It is just a
beginning.
Virtopia runs on a Silicon Graphics Reality Engine, and uses a Virtual Research
Head Mounted Display, a Polhemus Fastrack, and the Convolvotron 3D sound
system. The addition of richer 3D sounds is the next task to be undertaken by
the Virtopia creators. More complicated worlds are also being designed and
will be added during the next few months. It will continue to be a work in
progress for some time. We are breaking the boundaries of artistic expression,
and we have only just begun.
Some descriptions of the experiences of Virtopia (existing and to come) follow:
The Spider:
You are crouching on an immense spider web suspended against a bloody sky. The
only sound is the pounding of your heart as you look for whatever has built
this massive structure. Your gaze falls upon a giant spider lurking in the
distance. The spider is watching you, apparently sizing you up. You begin to
panic; as you realize that the spider has started across the web in your
direction. Your heart is pounding louder and louder. You race across the
expanse of web, but the spider is gaining on you. You turn for one last look
....
The Conversation Room:
You find yourself in the center of a simple room of four walls, a ceiling and a
floor. On each wall is an image, which looks like two silhouetted heads in
profile, each filled with stars. The "stars" are randomly twinkling, in first
one head and then the other, in the manner of a conversation. There is a
scrapbook on a table, with pages that turn as you approach it. The sounds you
hear, standing in the room's center, are many conversations, all jumbled
together, like standing in the center of a large, loud party. If you approach
one of the walls, however, or a page of the scrapbook, you will hear a
particular conversation become clearer than the rest. Overhearing these
"private" conversations may seem slightly voyeuristic, and the subject matter
is designed to elicit some sort of emotional response based on your own past
experiences.
The Endless Forest:
You look around and see nothing but trees looming up out of the darkness on all
sides. They are very richly textured, as is the vast canopy overhead. But
wait, there seems to be movement off to your left. Or was that off to your
right? You get the feeling you are not alone in these woods. You suddenly see
and hear a chorus of forest denizens - myriad wraiths who evade your every
effort to catch up with them, their unearthly music teasing and taunting you.
The Wacky Desert:
The bizarre sky changing colors overhead adds to the surreal atmosphere of the
vast orange dunes spread before you. Odd but brilliantly textured shapes fling
themselves across the sky, turning and orbiting as they go. Galaxies spin
overhead while planets seem to chase you across the plains. You head for an
oasis, to be transported to a perhaps saner world.
The Baby Room:
This room is very large and contains dozens of babies (texture mapped polygons)
of all shapes and sizes and ages. They are everywhere about. Some are crying,
some are gurgling, some are quiet. They can be picked up and moved around.
There are also various structures around the room, such as cribs, playpens,
cages, flower beds, and small tables with child size chairs, set up for a tea
party. If certain babies are moved to certain structures, different sequences
of events take place. For example, some babies may be programmed to
disintegrate if placed in a cage, or playpen; some may grow into instant
adults. Several babies placed at the tea party table may break into a babbling
conversation which gradually becomes more and more under-standable, until it
becomes an adult conversation about finances, or taxes, or some other boring
topic.
The Iron Maiden:
When you arrive in this space, you find you are at the center of a spherical
world sized to be about twice your height. Thrust through the sphere are huge
and dangerous-looking projectiles, like giant rusty nails. They are so
numerous, they prevent you from moving anywhere. There is no real pain or
pressure from these points, but sounds make it clear when you are bumping into
them. The sound creates a psychological barrier to moving beyond them. You
can, however, press past these nails, through the entire sphere and through to
the outside. The moment of escape is colored bright red. Once through to the
outside you are rewarded with a wonderful surprise world, with beautiful images
and sounds.
The Fish Bowl:
You seem to be suspended above some sort of rock formation below. You try to
move and your view shifts sluggishly, as if you were underwater. Sure enough,
a cluster of bubbles drift by. You decide to follow them up. Your head breaks
the surface but can go no further. A quick look around reveals you are in a
giant fishbowl. A screeching noise begins to grow in your head and your view
begins to turn an increasingly dark shade of red. You feel a sense of
impending danger as the sound gets louder and your view gets redder. You duck
back below the surface and everything slowly returns to normal. You have
become a fish, and cannot remain out of the water without hurting yourself.
The Toy Box:
This room is cheerfully decorated, like an inviting day care center. You can
look out the windows and see blue skies with white clouds. There are many
brightly colored toys in the room, some sitting still, others wound up and
moving. There is a remote control sitting on a table for use with some of the
radio controlled toys. Lots of happy sounds such as children at play noises,
and whirring, chiming toy sounds are in this area. You are drawn into the
space and become intrigued with playing with the toys. After a while, you look
up at the windows again and find the scene has changed. Where there were clouds
and sky, there are now images of gaunt faced, starving children pressed up
against the windows, looking hungrily into the room.
June 1993
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The Virtopia Virtual Reality Project %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Orlando, Florida Welcome to Virtopia - an artistic virtual world in the
making. Designed as a constantly expanding series of emotional adventures,
Virtopia is a work-in-progress that provides a multi-sensory feeling of total
immersion within several three dimensional computer generated worlds. A barren
and lonely desert interface holds a number of oases which become portals to
experiences such as animated rooms full of haunting images, or a 20 foot high
temperamental spider whose behavior is dependent upon yours.
The work is a collaborative effort by Designer Jacquelyn Ford Morie and World
Builder Mike Goslin of Orlando's Visual Systems Lab, a division of the
University of Central Florida's Institute for Simulation and Training. The
project grew out the observation that most of the virtual worlds being created
today are strictly utilitarian - designed to provide opportunities such as
walkthroughs of buildings before construction begins. "Virtual worlds can be
unparalled vehicles for personal expression," states Morie. "The problem is
that most of the tools for this new medium have not been available to artists
yet. Virtual reality will explode as a dynamic medium for artistic expression
as access increases. Creative forces have the potential ultimately to decide
what virtual reality will become." Morie's background is well suited to this
new area of expression, with advanced degrees in both fine art and computer
science, and a ten year exhibition record of her innovative comput!
er graphics artwork. For her, the
creation of virtual environments is the ultimate way to work. "It provides the
means to involve the viewer as a total participant in the artwork, making him
or her an active part of the art."
The psychological element in virtual environments is equally important to the
degree of immersion a participant experiences. Mike Goslin, the other half of
the creative team, contributes a degree in psychology as well as years of
artistic experimentation to Virtopia. Currently pursuing a masters' degree in
computer science, Goslin sees virtual reality as "one of HuxleyUs famous doors,
thrown open to expose the mind of the creator, or any other place you might
care to visit. Its potential is only limited by oneUs imagination."
Virtopia premiered at the opening night of second annual Florida Film Festival
at Orlando, May 28th, 1993, hosted by Enzian Theater. The Florida Film
Festival is the very first to recognize the importance that virtual
environments will have in shaping the future of entertainment media. In
addition, a free Virtual Reality Seminar discussing the making of Virtopia and
its impact on art, film, and society was presented by the creators of Virtopia
on Sunday, June 6th, 1993 .
contact:
Jacquelyn Ford Morie
Institute for Simulation and Training
Visual Systems Lab
12424 Research Parkway, Suite 300
Orlando, FL 32826
407.658.5099
morie@xxxxxxxxxxx
************************** VIRTOPIA Descriptions ***********************
Virtopia is a virtual world of emotions, memories, dreams, and wishes. It is
designed to be a haunting place, a place that may get your adrenaline pumping,
a place that may bring you to tears.
The interface for Virtopia is unlikely - a mostly barren desert punctuated by
verdant oases. The traveler to Virtopia can wander through this desert and
enter into any of the various oases. When he does, he will find that it is a
portal into an experience designed to evoke some emotional response. The exact
response will vary for the individual in the experience, since what that
experience suggests to a particular person will be influenced by that personUs
life experiences and psychological makeup and tendencies.
The Virtopia Project was conceived last fall by Jacquelyn Ford Morie and Mike
Goslin, of the Visual Systems Lab at the Institute for Simulation and Training.
The idea was to make virtual worlds that allowed for more than simply letting
one walk around inside a 3 dimensional computer model. This work so far is the
result of very initial stages of exploration and prototyping. It is just a
beginning.
Virtopia runs on a Silicon Graphics Reality Engine, and uses a Virtual Research
Head Mounted Display, a Polhemus Fastrack, and the Convolvotron 3D sound
system. The addition of richer 3D sounds is the next task to be undertaken by
the Virtopia creators. More complicated worlds are also being designed and
will be added during the next few months. It will continue to be a work in
progress for some time. We are breaking the boundaries of artistic expression,
and we have only just begun.
Some descriptions of the experiences of Virtopia (existing and to come) follow:
The Spider:
You are crouching on an immense spider web suspended against a bloody sky. The
only sound is the pounding of your heart as you look for whatever has built
this massive structure. Your gaze falls upon a giant spider lurking in the
distance. The spider is watching you, apparently sizing you up. You begin to
panic; as you realize that the spider has started across the web in your
direction. Your heart is pounding louder and louder. You race across the
expanse of web, but the spider is gaining on you. You turn for one last look
....
The Conversation Room:
You find yourself in the center of a simple room of four walls, a ceiling and a
floor. On each wall is an image, which looks like two silhouetted heads in
profile, each filled with stars. The "stars" are randomly twinkling, in first
one head and then the other, in the manner of a conversation. There is a
scrapbook on a table, with pages that turn as you approach it. The sounds you
hear, standing in the room's center, are many conversations, all jumbled
together, like standing in the center of a large, loud party. If you approach
one of the walls, however, or a page of the scrapbook, you will hear a
particular conversation become clearer than the rest. Overhearing these
"private" conversations may seem slightly voyeuristic, and the subject matter
is designed to elicit some sort of emotional response based on your own past
experiences.
The Endless Forest:
You look around and see nothing but trees looming up out of the darkness on all
sides. They are very richly textured, as is the vast canopy overhead. But
wait, there seems to be movement off to your left. Or was that off to your
right? You get the feeling you are not alone in these woods. You suddenly see
and hear a chorus of forest denizens - myriad wraiths who evade your every
effort to catch up with them, their unearthly music teasing and taunting you.
The Wacky Desert:
The bizarre sky changing colors overhead adds to the surreal atmosphere of the
vast orange dunes spread before you. Odd but brilliantly textured shapes fling
themselves across the sky, turning and orbiting as they go. Galaxies spin
overhead while planets seem to chase you across the plains. You head for an
oasis, to be transported to a perhaps saner world.
The Baby Room:
This room is very large and contains dozens of babies (texture mapped polygons)
of all shapes and sizes and ages. They are everywhere about. Some are crying,
some are gurgling, some are quiet. They can be picked up and moved around.
There are also various structures around the room, such as cribs, playpens,
cages, flower beds, and small tables with child size chairs, set up for a tea
party. If certain babies are moved to certain structures, different sequences
of events take place. For example, some babies may be programmed to
disintegrate if placed in a cage, or playpen; some may grow into instant
adults. Several babies placed at the tea party table may break into a babbling
conversation which gradually becomes more and more under-standable, until it
becomes an adult conversation about finances, or taxes, or some other boring
topic.
The Iron Maiden:
When you arrive in this space, you find you are at the center of a spherical
world sized to be about twice your height. Thrust through the sphere are huge
and dangerous-looking projectiles, like giant rusty nails. They are so
numerous, they prevent you from moving anywhere. There is no real pain or
pressure from these points, but sounds make it clear when you are bumping into
them. The sound creates a psychological barrier to moving beyond them. You
can, however, press past these nails, through the entire sphere and through to
the outside. The moment of escape is colored bright red. Once through to the
outside you are rewarded with a wonderful surprise world, with beautiful images
and sounds.
The Fish Bowl:
You seem to be suspended above some sort of rock formation below. You try to
move and your view shifts sluggishly, as if you were underwater. Sure enough,
a cluster of bubbles drift by. You decide to follow them up. Your head breaks
the surface but can go no further. A quick look around reveals you are in a
giant fishbowl. A screeching noise begins to grow in your head and your view
begins to turn an increasingly dark shade of red. You feel a sense of
impending danger as the sound gets louder and your view gets redder. You duck
back below the surface and everything slowly returns to normal. You have
become a fish, and cannot remain out of the water without hurting yourself.
The Toy Box:
This room is cheerfully decorated, like an inviting day care center. You can
look out the windows and see blue skies with white clouds. There are many
brightly colored toys in the room, some sitting still, others wound up and
moving. There is a remote control sitting on a table for use with some of the
radio controlled toys. Lots of happy sounds such as children at play noises,
and whirring, chiming toy sounds are in this area. You are drawn into the
space and become intrigued with playing with the toys. After a while, you look
up at the windows again and find the scene has changed. Where there were clouds
and sky, there are now images of gaunt faced, starving children pressed up
against the windows, looking hungrily into the room.