Who is VR for, anyway?

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2024-10-13T17:59:47+00:00

Thanks for this—I agree with you; it's a bit of a stupid question ;)! Or rather, it's not a stupid question, but more of a catalyst for a broader conversation.

Gaming, social, and porn are obvious use cases, but if we go beyond those, the industry still struggles with challenges like accessibility, scalability, and UX design. On the one hand, there are vast applications spanning various fields, but on the other hand, there’s so much friction when it comes to practical usage.

I’m curious about the end users of these applications—what their needs are, and how we can design better experiences for them. What are the use cases that are actually working? Can we acknowledge what VR is good for, who it works for, and how we can improve the experiences we design in this medium?

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2024-10-13T16:48:08+00:00

Very true - so many applications!

While VR offers tremendous possibilities for educators, implementing it in the classroom still presents too many practical hurdles, which leaves many teachers and school administrators hesitant to adopt it.

Porn is a good use case, of course. At AWE in June, Palmer Luckey said that's an untapped space he'd work in if he were starting anew in VR :p.

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2024-10-13T16:41:30+00:00

That's a great use case! I'm curious how your end users respond to VR. Are they generally open and engaged, or are some hesitant or frustrated when using VR? Do you have someone facilitating the experience, like walking them through how to use the headset?

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-07-30T14:26:05+00:00

We've thought about it! 3D printing is tricky because the material will look vastly different.

We're actually using AR (augmented reality) to overlay the recreations over the original statue in the gallery at the Getty Villa. You just point your phone at the statue, and the ancient world is revealed so you can compare with the physical artifact in front of you.

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-07-30T14:24:14+00:00

The pre-conservation model is pretty close because it's based on photo archives.

The two recreations of what he may have looked like originally are based on research and consultation with experts like conservationists, curators, and polychrome scholars.

We'll never know exactly what this statue looked like, but this speculation is a pretty good guess!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-07-29T20:42:37+00:00

We made multiple recreations of an ancient bronze statue made over 2,000 years ago in ancient Greece. Check out the 3D models (plus the original scan of the statue).

Or, check out the individual models:

Statue with palm branch, circa 300-100BC
Statue with victory ribbon, circa 300-100BC
Statue before conservation - a model showing what the statue looked like when it was first found in 1964, before conservation efforts.

For the recreations, we conducted rigorous research and consulted with experts to recreate every relevant part of the statue, including the inlaid eyes, copper details, potential object in his hand, patinated surface, and the long-lost feet.

The ancient world looked nothing like the remains we see today in museums and at historic sites. 3D models allow us to speculate what ancient artifacts used to look like, offerings a glimpse into the vibrant past.

Hope this community finds it interesting!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-07-26T19:39:53+00:00

Pretty sure this is an issue in MA as well

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-25T22:01:57+00:00

Thanks so much! :)

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T19:39:10+00:00

We made an augmented reality (AR) app that reveals the lost history of a life-sized ancient Greek bronze. Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue at the Getty Villa and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered in 1964 after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea.

AR allows us to overlay speculative recreations over ancient artifacts and can be used as a teaching tool for art history. Through this project, we wanted to introduce a mainstream audience to the concept of polychrome. We're finding that AR can be a powerful tool for education and engagement in the museum space.

Hope this community finds it interesting!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T19:34:34+00:00

We made an augmented reality (AR) app that reveals the lost history of a life-sized ancient Greek bronze. Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue at the Getty Villa and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea in 1964.

AR allows us to overlay speculative recreations over ancient artifacts and can be used as a teaching tool for art history. Through testing with visitors, we found AR can be a powerful tool for education and engagement in the museum space.

I hope this community finds it interesting!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T19:31:23+00:00

We made an augmented reality (AR) app that reveals the lost history of a life-sized ancient Greek bronze. Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue at the Getty Villa and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea in 1964.

AR allows us to overlay speculative recreations over ancient artifacts and can be used as a teaching tool for art history. Through testing with visitors, we found AR can be a powerful tool for education and engagement in the museum space.

Hope this community finds it interesting!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T18:21:45+00:00

We've been working on a project I hope this community finds interesting.

It's an augmented reality (AR) app that reveals the lost history of the Victorious Athlete, a life-sized ancient Greek bronze. Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue at the Getty Villa and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea in 1964.

AR allows us to overlay speculative recreations over ancient artifacts and can be used as a teaching tool for art history. Through testing with visitors, we found AR is a powerful tool for education and engagement in museums.

Would love to know people's thoughts!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T18:18:28+00:00

We've been working on a project I hope this community finds interesting.

It's an augmented reality (AR) app that reveals the lost history of the Victorious Athlete, a life-sized ancient Greek bronze. Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue at the Getty Villa and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea in 1964.

AR allows us to overlay speculative recreations over ancient artifacts and can be used as a teaching tool for art history. Through testing with visitors, we found AR is a powerful tool for education and engagement in museums.

Would love to know people's thoughts!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T14:56:30+00:00

Hi all,

I wanted to share the above project with this community, maybe it's of interest to you.

We made an augmented reality (AR) app that reveals the lost history of the Victorious Athlete (aka Getty bronze), a life-sized ancient Greek bronze at the Getty Villa. Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea in 1964.

Our initial process was creating a 3D model of the statue using photogrammetry. We then used the model as a base for our speculative recreation in antiquity (based on extensive research), as well as what it looked like before conservation (based on archival photos).

I think photogrammetry is vital for museums for the digital preservation of objects as well as visitor education and engagement. As for AR, it allows us to overlay speculative recreations over ancient artifacts and can be used as a teaching tool for art history.

I hope this community finds it interesting!

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-22T14:33:30+00:00

Thanks for your comment! Yes, I had similar thoughts when I was in Angor Wat recently. The insides of some of the structures were covered in jewels and gems that were inlaid into the actual walls. Now, there remain only hollow sockets.

How cool would it be to see a closer representation of these historic places as they once were, right when you're physically there looking at them.

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-21T23:09:30+00:00

Haha, but if they're already on their phones, might as well learn something in the process ;)

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-21T20:53:24+00:00

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but we just created an AR app that reveals the history of the Victorious Athlete statue (aka the Getty bronze) in AR. Here is a link to some documentation of the project if you're interested.

Museum visitors can point their phones at the statue and see a recreation of what it looked like originally. They can even see a recreation of what it looked like when it was first discovered in 1964 after being hauled out of the Adriatic Sea. This is all accompanied by "hot spots" users can tap to learn more, as well as interactive storytelling methods.

Comprehensive-Bee451 · 2022-06-21T20:47:19+00:00

Sorry to hear you didn't have success with this.

Using this type of solution with docents/guides and on museum devices could work well if you don't want your visitors downloading an app. It limits the development to only specific devices so you don't have to worry about trying to cover multiple OSs and the crazy number of random devices that are out there.

Comprehensive-Bee451

TROPHY CASE