Creating Augmented and Virtual Realities

Part II. How eXtended Reality Is Changing Digital Art

Computers have forever changed how we think of art and animation, first with the pixel and then with the polygon. And now there is about to be another revolution thanks to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Because we now have spatially aware displays, we can finally see digital objects in true 3D. This means that art for VR and AR should be optimized in unique ways to take full advantage of these spatial displays. And with spatially aware input devices, we can interact with digital objects in true 3D, as well. Thus, we can actually use VR to create 3D art in new and intuitive ways.

In Chapter 3, digital-artist-turned-venture-capitalist Tipatat Chennavasin, whose self-portrait you can see in Figure II-1, explains how VR is improving the way 3D art and animation is created while democratizing 3D artistry. He discusses the pioneering tools that are at the forefront of the VR art and animation movement and why they are so important. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions of time and the space available within this book, he isn’t able to cover all of the amazing VR art tools out there, like the low poly modeling of Google Blocks or the spline-based modeling of Gravity Sketch. However, by covering the concepts of VR painting and VR sculpting, you should have a good framework to understand the impact VR is having on 3D art. There are also new VR and AR tools for design prototyping, like Microsoft Maquette and Torch ...