RunVR
Overview
The current state of virtual reality is often limited to single user experience. RunVR is an attempt to overcome this restraint through a 5 minute live VR performance designed specifically for IAC Building Ground Floor Lobby’s 10 feet tall by 120 feet wide video wall in New York City. During the performance, the audience observes the protagonist running in his VR headset on a treadmill in front of the video wall while his point of view is projected on screen of him racing against multiple copies of himself through different environments.
In this project, I was the Art and Technical Director to a team of 4 multidisciplinary creatives. I led ideation sessions, created storyboards, visual and motion prototypes, co-created game environments and animations, oversaw 3D scanning and final video rendering, and managed the team and production pipeline.
Context
This piece was presented to public at IAC Building in November 2018 as part of the ITP Big Screens Show. It was re-imagined in Light Harvest Studio’s 130’ x 11’ panoramic wall and 27’ x 3’ LCD panels as a two channel video installation at Made in NY Media Center by IFP in August 2019.
My Role
Art and Technical Director
Team
Fanni Fanzakas, Art and Tech
Manuela Romero, Dramaturgy
Esther Manon Siddiquie, Movement
Jacob Robert, Performance
Tools
Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere, Maya, MotionBuilder
Timeline
September-November 2018, 3 months
Visual Composition
To start off, I created 100 images to test out various visual compositions on screen.
Storyboard
As a team, we all believed that concept comes first. Whatever the outcome, our piece must have a story behind it. We ideated based on our common interests in digital capitalism and how virtual reality is re-shaping humanity. After many iterations, we decided to create an immersive experience that addressed how technology is replacing and affecting our physical world by using a nude protagonist as a representation of the dichotomy between body cult, while at the same time neglecting reality. Our idea would be realized through one performer running on a treadmill in a VR headset in front of the screen. The performer's point of view was presented on screen where the audience would see him running through different virtual spaces while competing against copies of himself.
Prototype
3D Scanning, Motion Capture & Animation
I brought Jake Robert, a close friend of mine who I thought would be an ideal candidate for our protagonist, onto the team. With help from LaGuardia Studio, I got a high resolution 3D scan of Jake for production. As a team, we choreographed movements we wanted Jake’s avatars to perform and captured Jake’s data at NYU Tandon’s motion capture studio.
Game Development
Heading into two months of intensive production, we divided tasks based on our expertise. Esther and Manuela worked with Jake on choreography and dramaturgy while Fanni and I developed everything on screen with Unreal Engine 4 (UE4).
We created four different mall inspired game environments for Jake to run through: starting from an open field parking lot with a sudden drop, a transitional space with Escheresque stairs, to a bridge to finally entering the mall.
2018 IAC Show Recap
We presented our piece to 200+ audience at the IAC Building on November 30, 2018 as part of the NYU ITP Big Screens Show and our piece was incredibly well received! Many people came to us and told us they appreciate that we not only effectively bridged the visuals on screen with the live performance off screen but also successfully delivered the stories we wanted to tell.
Moving forward, we hope to attend festivals and conferences to showcase RunVR to carry on the discourses around body and belonging, digital intimacy and identity, fitness and beauty trends.
