Looking at the development of AR and VR technologies over the past decades it’s impossible not to be astonished. For this impulse, I looked at various TED-Talks that were given between the years 2010 and 2019, each reflecting on different projects and (at that time) new developments in the respective field. Seeing as these days, the time the average human spends in front of screens is higher than ever, it makes sense to view AR/VR-Applications as one of the most impactful and biggest mediums of the modern age.
Through all of the TED-Talks I was able to gather one big takeaway: AR/VR allows us to experience things rather than just watch them. Through AR/VR we can simulate doing things ourselves instead of observing, which has both physiological and psychological effects: the body and mind react in authentic ways, causing feelings/reactions such as an adrenaline rush, a jolt of fear, a pounding heart etc., making it a much more intense way of experiencing other realities. The TED-talks presented projects that partially date back many years, thus being far from recent these days, and STILL, the project, such as the 2010 presentation of a Microsoft feature that extended a map into a 3D-space, basically showing what we know as Google Street View today, is incredible.
I think all presenters, and I share their point of view, are convinced that VR/AR is much more than just a gadget or technology. It is a new, enhanced form of communication, allowing us to get immersed in worlds and realities in a way that we will remember on a whole new level: we basically live through them as we experience not only the visual, but all the physical and emotional effects of the augmented or virtual environment.
Today I would like to talk about the physiological effects that I have experienced while both playing a VR game and watching others play. I have tried a couple of games but would like to describe one in particular, as it is a very a good example for the instant physiological responses VR experiences can cause.
I borrowed a pair of VR glasses from my workplace and gathered my parents in order to both observe their behavior while playing and experience myself what reactions the game would cause. The game I am talking about is called a plank experience, where the user/player takes an elevator up a high storey building and then, as the elevator doors open, is faced with the challenge of walking a narrow plank that leads outdoors, with a rather steep drop on both sides. This is probably an experiment known to quite a few, and for many probaply one of the first touchpoints with virtual reality.
Figure 1: Richie’s Plank Experience1
We laid out a piece of wood that most closely resembled a plank, but rather than having it high up the outer walls of a building, we put it on to the floor, in order to create a more realistic environment. Before trying it myself, I watched everyone else walk the plank and was highly amused by their reactions, as I saw them hestitate, walk the plank rather slowly and fight for balance. My mother even refused to take a step „outside” – she didn’t move until I took off her VR glasses. Lastly, it was my turn, and all I can say is that i was pretty surprised by the way my body reacted. Firstly, I had a feeling of elevation when the elevator was going up, a halting sensation as it came to a stop and I could sense my heart beat just a bit faster in anticipation. With the doors opening, I felt like I was standing atop a tall building and looking down into the abyss was surprisingly leaving my toes a bit tingly, even though logically, I knew that I was perfectly safe. The feeling of walking the plank itself was even worse, making it rather challenging to step on it and walk what was ultimately nothing more than a straight line. I was quite astonished by the intensity of the reactions that came with this experience and the unique feeling of logic and sensation going in different directions. It makes me wonder what all those people who had a real plank on the floor at those VR demo stands went through.
For this post, I will be taking a look at: Perndorfer, Rafael. 3D Interaction Within a Multi-User Distributed Untethered Virtual Reality Training Simulation, 2017.
Level of design
The layout of the paper appears to be a generalised one that was probably mandatory, as it is not noticably designed or layouted. This makes it look like a technical book or specialised publication one would expect when reading up on something in an academic setting such as school or university. Weirldy enough, this subjectively boosts its credibility as similar looking books are usually expected to be trustworthy.
Degree of innovation
The author described the current state of technology and innovation in the specific field of VR on site training of large scale operations, which in itself is of course not innovative, however this only built the base for further steps. Later in his work, the author expands on said knowledge through his own contributions and findings. This does not completely reinvent the system, but rather builds on what was already there, which is acknowledgeable as some degree of innovation.
Independence
The thesis was presumably written independently, however it of course builds upon and depends on the system and technology that was already there in this area. Qualitative research was also conducted by surveying a specific group of people. This is independent research, but was again limited by the level of specificity of the topic, as a consequence of which the number of participants was also limited.
Outline and structure
The topic is outlined quite nicely in the first chapters of fundamentals, which also segues neatly into a state of the art research, followed by the methodology used in the independent research. This is an easily followable structure which also makes sense based on the topic.
Degree of communication
Although some formulations can become quite technical, they are always explained in enough detail to be widely understandable. Fitting pictures also back up or further explain what was stated in the text. This is often extremely useful, as only those really help visualise more complex topics.
Scope of the work
The scope is quite clearly defined from the beginning in this very specific area of VR technology. Over more than 100 pages, it is properly dealt with and supported by citations and own research.
Orthography and accuracy
Orthographically, I did not really find any major mistakes other than one “priories” instead of “priorities”. Some expressions could have been formulated better, as they often have a very distinct german origin in the way they are read. This is noticable when it comes to sentence structure, however is not much of a problem when it comes to actual content or orthography.
Literature
At first glance, the bibliography is quite heavy on the internet side, and lacking traditional books. This might initially be looked down upon, but nowadays, especially when taking into consideration the highly specific and modern nature of the topic, it is understandable that online sources provide a much more up to date view on this rapidly evolving field.
This will be more of a free form reaction and thoughts written down, in response to Apple’s upcoming mixed reality headset, as well as critical feedback of the community mixed with my own. As always, it goes without saying that in the Apple trailer itself, the product is presented as the next best thing, absolutely revolutionary. Seeing as I work with AR, VR and mixed reality headsets every day I was also reasonably excited to see the announcement.
Ultimately, we will have to wait and see how Apple will deliver on the promises they have made throughout this first reveal, but so far the public reception has of course been mixed. Many are sceptical, but most early reviews of influencers and writers that have gotten the opportunity to test a prototype out in person are actually pleasantly surprised by the sheer quality off the product. The main point of praise almost everybody found was the passthrough cameras. Passthrough modes have been a thing in mixed reality headsets for a while now, however most of them only use it as a way of orienting oneself in physical space, almost like a setup progress, before actually diving into VR. With their (apparently) extremely high quality cameras providing “crystal clear” passthrough footage, Apple intends to make it a key feature to seamlessly integrate being able to view your surroundings into workflows. According to testers, the passthrough quality even allowed the use of a phone while wearing the headset, which, according to personal experience, is something that no other headset on the market right now can remotely offer.
While these features are of course impressive and there are many more to dive into and analyse, we shall see what actually happens. In the meantime I would like to share my opinion on the general development this means for the whole industry. No matter what someones opinion is on Apple, their philosophy is repeatedly pushing boundaries in whatever area they operate. This is the reason why I am especially excited about the announcement of them dipping their toes into the mixed reality field. Not because of what they eventually bring to the table (that too, of course) but more so because of these new approaches that will start out expensive and gimmicky, but will eventually be made more accessible and cheaper through its next generations.
For this second impulse I listened to a Ted Talk about virtual worlds, and how people experience them in different ways. The talk was split into three sections, each being an interview of someone telling the listener about their unique stories. This will be a short summary of their parts, followed by a summary of the topic.
The first interviewee is Wes Looker, a writer from a small rural town in the US. He recalls his experience growing up, being the smallest guy in school and often getting bullied. Because of this, he found himself retreating into his own fantasy worlds and reading books to escape into other places in his mind. He did this until 1998, when Ultima Online was released. It was one of the first online multiplayer games, which allowed him to connect with people from all over the world. He played the game for the next 5 years, which allowed him to look past his small town, even learning lessons for life while growing up with the game, all through his virtual connection to others.
Cass Marshall is a writer at polygon, and she talks about her story next. Her general message is much of the same as the first one. She used the online game Sea of Thieves as a counterpart to being bullied and dealing with being on the spectrum. For those reasons she felt more at ease in online environments, where she met 2 other people with whom she grew closer sharing online memories in games. In these safe spaces she could leave her comfort zone and be herself around them, exploring her identity and grow as a person. Through this she learned not to see the physical and virtual as something separate, as in both of these worlds the people are the same, making the barrier almost nonexistant in the end.
The last story is the one of Russel Quinn. Russels grandmother and mother died in the same year, while he also had to undergo surgery to remove a kidney stone. Russel had been making interactive stories before, and also found himself using this hobby to help himself deal with these tragic events. He spent the next 3 years rebuilding his last year with them as a game. While his wife was worried that dealing with it this way would be unhealthy, he immediately felt at ease when being taken there through his 3d work. He recreated game mechanics according to what had happened to him and his family during that time. In the game you play as all 3 characters: Russel, Linda and Jone. Toggling between their perspectives, you take the role of their family, to make the most of a bad situation, take care of each other. The project turned into something meant for people in similar situations, to give them new ways of talking about it. To learn how to deal with grief. Artists and musicians often deal with difficult situations through their art, but through videogames you get to experience and feel as a character. Recreating his mother in the game was the last thing he did, as it was the most difficult to him. When he eventually got to it, it ended up better than he was expecting, giving him emotional distance and the ability to process his experience almost as someone else, to practice sitting through pain. “Anyone else can do that too, but only if they want to, as it is a place you can always switch off.” – he says
This was a surprisingly touching listen, which focussed less on the technical aspects of virtual realities, and much more on how it makes people feel, and which positive responses it can trigger. While this is not directly relevant to my topic, it is nonetheless important to always keep such aspects in the back of our minds.
Nowadays, virtual reality has almost become a buzzword due to its repeated use in headlines, discussions and various news outlets. Consequently, we have become somewhat accustomed to hearing or reading about the topic, but are we all familiar with what it actually means? This blog entry aims to clear up any uncertainties about the basic definition of virtual reality and its possible use cases.
But what exactly does the word virtual reality envelop? What is the deciding factor that makes something a “virtual reality”? For this, there are various definitions which of course more or less differ in some areas, but come to a rather decisive conclusion overall. One point that could be made for the first uses of virtual reality, which by todays standards can be considered rather humorous, is the 1896 screening of footage of a train approaching the camera directly. Back then, it caused the entire audience to jump out of the way or run out of the room in fear of getting struck by said train. While this has turned into more of an urban legend over time, a simple cinema screen can hardly be considered virtual reality today.1
Figure 1: A scene out of L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat, 18962
The modern definition of virtual reality is much more focussing on immersion and interaction. For something to be considered VR today, it has to be a computer simulation resulting in a 3D visual (or otherwise stimulating) environment. This immerses the user in a virtual world, with a range of sensory in- and outputs, which shape the experience in real time. The more of the signals are sent, the higher the resulting immersion will be. Typically, this is achieved by a headset which covers the users eyes and plays back footage of whichever environment the user is supposed to find themselves in. The second tool is usually some form of controller or glove, which copies the users movement and allows them to interact with virtual objects. These instruments build the base for the users telepresence (the feeling of “being there”). This feeling can be expanded and reinforced though various technological means.3
Figure 2: A man exploring a virtual spaceship4
This has been a very general overview of what VR means. In future posts I will dive further into the topic and provide insights into different aspects, closing in further on my own approach. Seeing the difference between those two very different worlds of what could be considered “virtual reality” at the time, while taking into accoun the reasonably short time that has passed inbetween, holds exciting possibilities for future development in this area of technology.
As a first impulse and a kind of retrospect I would like to present my visit to the Viva Frida Kahlo exhibition in Vienna, which serves as a perfect introduction and insight into the fascinating potential uses of VR/AR and immersive experiences in general.
The exhibition presents itself in a format that has now been used to portray great artists and topics, including Van Gogh and Tutankhamun – and of course the artist Frida Kahlo and her story. Kahlo’s life story and artistic works were presented in various digital formats – on the one hand, the digitized paintings were projected onto the walls and floors of the exhibition hall using high-performance projectors, creating the opportunity to move freely through the artist’s visual world in this space.
On the other hand, there was also a VR experience in which visitors wearing VR glasses embarked on an approximately 10-minute journey through parts of Frida Kahlo’s life. The fascinating thing about this exhibition, both the immersive room projection and the VR experience, was the extent to which an actually empty room, a hall without any exhibits, managed to create an entire, three-dimensional visual world of images. By picking up typical elements from the art and style of Frida Kahlo, a colorful picture of the artist and her works was created, who, in addition to her quite colorful-looking art, had a life marked by illness/injury. In particular, the view through the VR glasses, in which you sit in Frida Kahlo’s bed and “fly” through her life, created a closeness that made it possible to identify with the artist’s life and thus also to understand her works.
This exhibition really serves as the perfect first example of my series of extended and virtual realities, as it just barely leaves the “real” world, expanding upon it through various means, immersing even people who usually would not be in touch with such technologies.
As can be seen in all of my previous blog posts, I was first struggling a bit with finding a topic for my research and then started diving into Character Animation and the animation industry. Throughout the time since my last blog post I had that topic in the back of my mind and was still struggling when trying to think of ways I could take this topic further to make up a full masters thesis with my current and future knowledge. Whenever I thought about it I was quickly overwhelmed by the possibilities, until recently I was sitting at work and realized that I could just pivot to the topic I was working with at that moment: Virtual Reality.
Virtual Reality in what context?
During the past two years of me working at mindconsole1 I had the opportunity to come in contact with very different approaches to virtual reality and how it can be used in various contexts. The main area I found myself developing into was the gamification of real world tasks, mainly larger scale operations, ranging from a treecutting learning environment2 for the bfw3 all the way to a digital reconstruction of a part of berlin4 for the Berlin Fire Department5.
Figure 1: Treecutting environment in use6
During these projects I worked on the 3d construction of said environments, developing of functionalities and general project management. That is precisely why I decided that this type of work would be the perfect foundation for my master’s thesis.
Figure 2: The Berlin Ubahn station in the digital environment7
Further directions
Having this theoretical and practical knowledge as part of the thesis I would also like to branch out and take it further than that. What exactly that is going to look like will be decided in the future (and the next few blog posts), but overall I would like to analyse the topic in regards to the psychology aspect of such virtual training environments and possibly the way gamification can help shape important real life training digitally.
Sources
5. Berliner Feuerwehr. “Willkommen bei der Berliner Feuerwehr”. Berliner Feuerwehr, Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.berliner-feuerwehr.de/.
3. bfw. “Home – FAST Traunkirchen.” FAST Traunkirchen, Accessed November 15, 2023. https://fasttraunkirchen.at/.
The animation industry has evolved for over a century, with several animation studios emerging across the world. Generally, animation studios are companies that create animated media for different purposes. There are different types of animation studios – on the one hand there are large corporate animation studios that develop and distribute their own intellectual properties (for example animated films), thus owning the rights to the technologies and characters they created. Large animation corporations, such as The Disney Corporation, often own multiple subsidiary studios (Disney, for example owns Walt Disney Animation Studio, 20th Century Animation or Pixar Animation Studios), and are made up of a number of specialized departments and units. As these companies tend to work with high standards in terms of technologies and equipment, they are well-suited for working on high budget productions or films that require certain special techniques. Other companies, on the other hand, work for clients on a contract basis. Small contractor studios are often private-owned businesses and create animated content while not owning the digital merchandise copyrights. (cf. deedeecourse, n.d.)
Over the course of the past couple of decades and even in recent years, the animation industry has seen a rapid growth and development. In 2021 alone, the global animation market grew by five percent to more than 372 billion U.S. dollars, reflecting the constantly rising demand for animated content. For example, six out of 10 of the highest-grossing animated movies in North American history originated from the mid to late 2010s. (cf. Statista Research Department, 2023)
The studios with the top-grossing animated feature films of all time are Disney, Pixar (run by Disney since 2006) and DreamWorks. (cf. Statista Research Department, 2023)
Figure 1: Top Grossing Animated Feature Films
The following paragraphs will include a couple of facts about one of the world’s largest animation corporations and the animation studios owned by it: The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1923 as „Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios“, Disney is among the most successful animation companies today, owning subsidiary studios such as „Pixar“ and „Walt Disney Animation Studios“. Disney is very well known due to the fact that they set many of the standards and developed a number of animation techniques that are still being used today. (cf. Kizer, 2022)
Figure 2: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios is the Disney Company’s most successful animation studio, having produced movies like „Frozen“, „The Lion King“ or „Mulan“. Also, they were the ones to define the 12 principles of animation and developing the multiplane camera, which then became a standard in traditional animation. (cf. Bailey, 2019)
Figure 3,4,5: Frozen, The Lion King and Mulan
Pixar is especially known for its computer-generated 3D animations (CGI), using its own rendering software „RenderMan“. (cf. deedeecourse, n.d.)
It is a renderer developed by Pixar Animation Studios used for rendering VFX and animation. It has been the core rendering technology of the company for more than 30 years. (cf. Pixar, n.d.)
With „Toy Story“, Pixar released the world’s first feature-length computer animated feature film in 1995, receiving multiple Academy Awards for it, including Best Original Screenplay, making it the first animated film to be recognized for screenwriting. Other movie productions by Pixar include „Monster Inc.“, „Finding Nemo“, or „WALL-E“. The studio was bought by the Walt Disney Company in 2006. Other film studios owned by the Disney Company include 21st Century Fox, Lucasfilm Ltd., and Marvel Entertainment. (cf. Pixar, n.d.)
There is a vast variety of animation techniques that have developed over time. The following blog entry is dedicated to introducing the reader to the different types and techniques of animation.
Traditional Animation
The process most frequently used for animated film productions in the 20th Century was Traditional Animation. This technique consists of creating a hand-drawn, individual picture for each frame, slightly altering the drawings in each to create the illusion of movement. (cf. Alhumaidhi, 2020)
Each component that needs to be animated is painted on a separate transparent sheet (also known as cels), so that the layers such as backgrounds, characters and moving objects can later be animated individually. (cf. Wall, 2022)
Figure 1: Traditional Animation
This technique, therefore also known as „Cel-Animation“, allows the animator to gain full control over the characters’ movements and expressions. However, it is a very time consuming method, since most animated films have a frame rate of at least 12 frames per second (FPS). Still, results of traditional animation techniques can be rather impressive and are nowadays often paired with modern digital software to achieve the special look and feel of frame-by-frame animation. (cf. Parker, 2022)
Examples of movies using the traditional animation technique would be classics like „Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs“ or „Sleeping Beauty“. (cf. Wall, 2022)
2D Animation
2D-Animation describes the creation of movement by stringing together an array of images in a two-dimensional space. While generally, one second of an animation equals 24 frames/images, most 2D-animatiors only draw every second image, resulting in a total of 12 frames for one second of animated content. This is a common practice since 12 frames are enough to generate the illusion of movement. While in the past, this style had to be hand drawn, nowadays there is a variety of modern software such as Toon Boom Harmony or Adobe After Effects, and with that, techniques such as keyframing and character rigging, that make the workflow indefinitely easier. (cf. Wall, 2022)
Figure 2: 2D Animation
Keyframing means defining certain frames such as the beginning, middle and end point of, for example, a character’s movement with so called „key frames“ and letting the software render the images between these pre-defined frame. This makes for a very time-saving and flexible workflow. (cf. Parker, 2022)
Character rigging basically means creating a digital skeleton of the character, defining its individual body parts, which the software can then animate in accordance. This, just as key framing, saves the animator a lot of work, since a character doesn’t have to be redrawn for each frame. (cf. Wall, 2022)
The style originally gained popularity through the works of Disney. Nowadays, 2D-Animation is a very popular and widely used technique for explainer videos, ads or promotional videos.
3D Animation
3D-Animation is a type of digital animation, virtually creating characters, objects and entire scenes in 3D-space. For this technique, various assets such as 3D-models and more complex character rigs are needed, making it a more technical, mechanical in its workflow. (cf. Wall, 2022)
However, it also allows the creation of an entirely new dynamic when it comes to animating different settings, characters, lighting situations or textures. Most modern animation movies, such as „Frozen“ or „Moana“ use 3D-animation techniques. (cf. Parker, 2022)
Figure 3: 3D Animation
3D, as opposed to 2D animation, makes it possible to create characters and assets that can be viewed from any angle, which makes it incredibly useful for the navigation through 3D worlds such as in games like „Grand Theft Auto“, where the player can walk around in a 360° angle and view assets from all sides. (cf. Wall, 2022)
Software used for 3D-Animation would for example be Autodesk Maya, Blender or Cinema 4D.
Stop Motion
In stop motion animation, the illusion of movement is generated through combining and rapidly replaying a sequence of photographs where real physical objects are moved in tiny increments, creating a scene. (cf. Parker, 2022)
Figure 4: Stop Motion
This style can be created with actual people but also clay figurines, toys, or other materials. Popular examples would be Tim Burton’s „Nightmare before Christmas“ or Burl Ives’ animated cartoon „Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer“. (cf. Wall, 2022)
Stop motion is one of the oldest and most popular animation techniques. (cf. Movsisyan, n.d.)
Motion Graphics
While traditionally, animated films resolve around characters or a specific setting, motion graphics are a type of animated graphic design. They use graphics, typography and different shapes to create a kind of visual storytelling. (cf. Parker, 2022)
Figure 5: Motion Graphics
Motion graphics are commonly seen in logo animations, TV graphics, credits or explainer videos and can be made in both 2D and 3D. (cf. Wall, 2022)
Sources
(1) Alhumaidhi, Hind Ali [IDOSI Publications] (2020): Animation Techniques and Styles [online] https://idosi.org/wasj/wasj38(5)20/7.pdf [accessed on 21.01.2023]
