Little more than a few years ago, I was merely aware that virtual worlds existed, like a thin blanket of digital content over the bedrock of our reality. Yes, I’d had experiences with VR headsets but they were just novelties that I didn’t dedicate much longterm attention to after using them.
Backlighting the Scene
Like many nerds in the mid-2000s, I had visited Second Life’s virtual world. At the time, I enjoyed seeing the creativity people exhibited on their properties and in the stores that sold the pieces they had crafted for sale. The graphical demands of the environment were pretty heavy on my computer that didn’t have a graphic processing unit (GPU). My white plastic MacBook screamed whenever I jumped into a server. However, I liked sitting in the open sandboxes watching people design sculptures or demonstrate more complex combinations of textures, shapes, and script. I managed to create a djembe drum modeled after one I owned at the time that could trigger an audio sample of hand drumming and animate an avatar to appear as if it were playing on the instrument while strapped to the user.
The first time I crossed paths with a virtual reality headset was at the Sweets & Snacks Expo, an annual trade show typically held in Chicago. At the Perky Jerky booth there was an early Oculus headset available to try while having samples of the company’s product. It was very basic, a simulated rollercoaster experience while seated on a stool with a few attendants around to make sure people didn’t fall to the ground while wearing the headset. It really felt like the decades-long promise of virtual reality had finally been delivered, though I didn’t run out to get one.
Of course, I checked out Pokemon Go during its initial release phase while traveling to get a firsthand feel for augmented reality. Though I had never played anything else from the brand, I enjoyed the time outdoors meeting folks that were trying to “catch ‘em all”.
Another handful of years passed, Sony released Playstation VR. While visiting a friend near Cleveland, I got to look like a fool while playing Superhot. It was great fun. Both the visual fidelity and haptic interactions felt immersive. There’s probably still video of me out there moving catatonically while attempting to not crash into furniture.
Falling Backwards into the Field
Let’s fast forward to the spring of 2021, the social audio app Clubhouse was storming the walled gardens of silo’d network hegemony. I started using the platform to connect with film industry professionals for insight into sourcing funding and practical knowledge to expand the documentary film I had released in the autumn of 2020. Everyone was talking about virtual reality film-making techniques that had taken over the effects departments. It was incredible to hear that what I had thought was out of reach had become available to creatives with smaller budgets than the massive studios in Hollywood.
The energy around the extended reality community was captivating. Creatives were joining the conversation from every direction. I started collecting interesting people to join a private direct message group on Twitter to share ideas. I had written a few books and still wanted to do more with my documentary project, but the potential of working in a more dynamic storytelling environment was more alluring than static content.
Much of the hype swirled around NFTs (content monetized and in some cases distributed via smart contracts enabled by token and blockchain) or the “metaverse”, a term coined by Neal Stephenson in his book “Snow Crash” from the early 90’s in which characters move between the physical world and a digital realm of fantastic creation.
So I pivoted.
I was curious. There was a lot to learn and I had plenty of questions because I knew so little about how to develop assets and deploy them. Luckily, the group of folks I had assembled are knowledgeable and willing to share their insightful feedback with a complete noob.
Attempting the Possible
Creating 3D digital assets has a steep learning curve. There are many programs that allow users to explore the process, but perhaps the most cost effective offering is Blender, which is as robust as your skillset. It allows users to manipulate forms and textures as well as animate their creations in a digital workspace that simulates environmental lighting. The objects can then be exported in any number of formats for use in other programs.
One application is via augmented reality camera lens filters of popular social network apps like Snapchat and Instagram. Making these available to other users requires orienting the files with the context of the live camera views. On Instagram this requires Spark AR to test and deploy the assets. I’ve been experimenting with the process and completed my first mask called “The Chef”.
These early experiments are illuminating the path for the required groundwork to my most ambitious project to date. Approximately one hundred and thirty years ago a World’s Fair was staged on the south side of Chicago. The intention is to digitally bring the Columbian Exposition back to life via extended reality technology. Over the last few years, we have been diligently scouring archives around the world to gather document remnants of the major structures located around what was known as the Grand Basin. I’m proud to have offered the first access to our work via Facebook and Instagram’s augmented reality functionality.
A decade ago when I first got an iPhone, photogrammetry was a cool trick. My earliest test of the technology was a small toy dinosaur that required a dozen or so photos. The result came out impressively well at the time, I thought. I don’t have that file or image available any longer but I have started revisiting the functionality again recently. Last year I began producing a few 3D prints of one of the historic structures that stood in Jackson Park during the 1893 World’s Fair, then converting it to a digital 3D asset using this technique.
Architectural Preservation in the Digital Realm
There are pieces of history that would be difficult to resurrect. One way to make it viable again is within virtual environments.
“The Columbian Exposition’s focus on beautiful buildings and landscape was essential to the heart of all U.S. cities. It put the harmony, proportion, and splendor of classical design on display. The Beaux-Arts buildings and landscape were complemented by new technology, especially electric lighting.”, remarked Philadelphia-base architect Michael Buckley, “This collaboration of future with past energized the collective imagination, giving rise to The City Beautiful Movement. Chicago 1893 explores further innovation within architecture and design today.”
Chicago 1893 is not the first to attempt to recreate parts of the Columbian Exposition with digital assets, a project based at UCLA has been pursuing the grail as well. However, they have not made anything accessible to the public and only a few videos exist of the work produced by the team over the years.
Unbound by academia, this allows us to manufacture and provide access as it makes sense for the project. The intention is to begin extending the project more deeply into the metaverse with content distributed via the blockchain as well as collectible NFTs.
It’s been something I have been considering for quite a while and realize that this is where extended reality is heading in the future.
Excited to show you everything we’ve been working on…
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