Creating Prototype Version 1

Initial Thesis Question: 
How would encouraging audiences to walk through a three-dimensional immersive environment by displaying the interactivity and interpassivity in a different depth influence the understanding and adaptation of a narrative of my project?

Initial Main Research Area: 
Interactivity and Interpassivity of Digital 3D Performative Cinematic Experience.

My starting point was to create a digital 3D environment with interactivity and interpassivity. My previous Topia project inspired a prototype version one to create a digital metaverse where people could socialise. It was for a single player. My original intention was to create a space where artists and players could explore and share their life journeys.

Topia was a website where people could create 2D worlds and portals to connect them for different purposes or events. I used the captain's room as a base point where players could move to the other spaces through the portals. Each room worked differently, and I tried to connect them using the portals. 

Building Prototype Version 2 After 1st Critique

After the first critique, I realized I needed to simplify and make the idea more cohesive. People commented that the different elements seemed dangling in one site with a weak connection. It would also make sense if they were separate projects. There might be more content that people can enjoy as I am adding more rooms, but adding more things was not always meant to be a better thing. 

The problem was I tried to find perfection at one time. I tried to plan out everything from start to end. It eventually took away the space to have fun and explore different things. I lost all the opportunity to have happy accidents, where I could find some innovation within my journey. In the end, I learned the importance of the process of finding the meaning of the project. It was a journey, which was also the theme of my project.

Therefore, I decided to focus on the core by cutting down all the unnecessary parts.

3 Relevant Works:

1. "Future World: Where Art Meets Science" by Team Lab

2. "Dreams of Dali: 360-degree Video"

3. "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience"

Those three works were similar since they used 2D assets to form the 3D space to create an immersive experience. If traditional artworks were projected on a flat surface, these artworks brought innovation for effective communication by using the depth of the space. People could walk around freely and explore the space in their designated way.

I took out the concept of the four seasonal changes. Instead, I used my digital surrealist drawing into the 3D assets I created. I could make a connection if I display them in a frame within a frame setting. Different elements had a connection and contrast, and framing the ample space in a small space created some irony, making me set up the surrealist mood. 

I displayed the 2D digital drawing on the background walls and used realistic video as a texture of pieces of furniture. It was interesting to use depth to display other elements that explained the work's narrative and created a connection between audiences and artwork.

After 2nd Critique 

Professor Adam helped me with the 2nd Critique. His first impression of the 2nd version was, " This feels different!" Like my first and third relevant works, I could also create the same result in a physical space using projection mapping. However, it would be and feel different. It may not work in a gallery or website like any other work. We saw the potential of new combinations of the art experience in a digital 3D environment. 

He suggested I should go through some experimentation. For example, I could prepare different kinds of videos and see my choice after I swap the assets. I could also try other materials and find out what would work in this space. It can be surrealist, hyperrealism or abstract material. 

Finding a similarity and pattern of those selections will help me find new rules and come up with something I have yet to think about. It also will lead me to discover how to make a 3D environment more exciting and why it delivers differently to the audiences with my unique approach. It can be another way of critiquing. Critique from Adam gave me lots of inspiration and helped me understand where I should go as a next step. I was pleased to see the potential of my project.