'revolutionary' use of 3D (art) for the public?

[Dune]

Long title, but I hardly know how to describe it. I'd like to know if anybody has any ideas about something quite (or completely) new in the ways TG (or 3D illustration/art on the whole) can be used, to make something for the public to enjoy or engage in. There seem to be funds for those kind of endeauvours. So I thought about the stereoscopic viewing of an animation, but as I write this, VR is of course pretty new.
I also think things like that are really hard to get done properly, especially for a loner like me, sitting in a small room with some buzzing machines. You'd probably need a TEAM, a lot of software and lots of time.
Anyway; if someone has a brilliant (and achievable) idea about what I could use the medieval harbor setup for in terms of public use, or use for the public, I'd very much like to hear it.

[kaedorg]

I would say an interactive animation.
Let's imagine 5 buttons in front of the screen. Each pressed would let run a zoomed animation on a specific interesting point.

David

[Tangled-Universe]

I have discussed a somewhat similar idea last year with the PS staff in order to get some crowd sourced funding.
There are examples of creative projects being crowdfunded, allowing costs to be covered, also for necessary development.
What we need is basically the answer to your question, Ulco.

[Dune]

Thanks, guys. The interactive animation crossed my mind as well, in terms of the buttons and getting a zoom-in on a particular area with some story, so you could wander through that city and learn things. I am reluctant to make it really animated as rendering the scene already takes far more time than expected (water  ), even on my newest 6-core. And I don't want to spend weeks or months on something that is artistically only average.

[otakar]

I'd take the viewer to street level (just tap/click on a location in the main image) and do 360 degree visualization. With a VR headset this should be stunning even without animation. Of course animation and sound would add a lot to the experience, but it would certainly baloon to a large project at that point.

You would still need high poly models and fine surfacing to make it look good, which of course means a ton of work - not just rendering.

[TheBadger]

What is revolutionary about 360?
As far as viewing a 360 video or still in a head set, you need some more software. And even if just on a monitor some extra soft too.

As far as 360 on a monitor, this is about as advanced as I have seen: http://360gigapixels.com/rome/ you can zoom in super far due to the thousands of photos that were taken at every focal length. Though the soft will easily work with a TG render, I can't imagine how you could render out the thousands of images needed to get this same kind of pano... don't forget about processing power just for viewing.

TG to VR is certainly possible. But only if you have a good way to get your terrain to a real engine like Unreal. But then its not a tg render any longer, its a unreal engine render. But in this case, even with a enviro  where all you can do is turn you head and look up and down. you still need as much as 90fps to avoid pretty intense discomfort. You can get by on 60fps, but it is still not very nice.

Then of course you can render out a 360 from TG an get it loaded into a head set player as a single image (there are lots of options currently, but I wouldn't bet on which ones will still be around in a year). For this you still need more soft than TG alone, and a popular head set. But thats not very revolutionary. Though with some music and traditional video transitions you can make a pretty fun slideshow. This can also be viewed on a phone/goggle set up or a head set plunged into a PC, but your audience is limited in number for now.

If this is for a museum installation, the most practical thing would be something like the link at the top of this post, viewed on a monitor. That would have been pretty cool half a decade ago. Not sure how much interest it would create now.

...


In that thread about the convention, in open, Oshyan said he viewed a TG enviro in VR. But he did not say how. I would be very interested to hear the workflow they used to get the terrain into the real time. Other than a height field, I would like more details! And if there is some alpha version of TG that is being developed specifically for VR, I would like to hear about that too!

...

If TG output vector maps, those maps could be baked in Mudbox, then you could take it to a real time engine. I haven't checked if you can open and displace a vector map directly in unreal engine. That would be nice to know.

[Dune]

Thanks for your input, guys. Some serious thinking going on here... I'm not sure what they exactly like; monitor setup or projection for more people to enjoy. I think the latter, but then it will restrict the variety of use. You might get people obstructing eachothers intentions, and causing havoc in the interaction 

[TheBadger]

or projection for more people to enjoy

Oooh, this is a good idea! Remember that projection someone did of mars. The image from the surface of the planet where the terrain was littered with space junk... Its in image sharing some place.

You could do the same but in a round room. The projection could change every minute or two. This should be technically very possible for the client, since it is a very simple version of a planetarium... Would take some clever AV, but very possible.

hmmmm. This is a good idea. I can think of a lot of public installations that could be done this way, even out doors.

[Dune]

I remember alright. I would guess they'd go for a more multi-people enjoyment, and the projection wall is square (unfortunately), but perhaps something interactive can be made that's projected in 3D (with glasses), and manipulated by people's behavior (sensing camera somewhere). So people dont actually know what they're doing, but when they do something, something changes. On the other hand, that may yield some strange behavior in the museum 

[TheBadger]

4 walls is even easier. Only need to project 4 times in a more traditional way.

You may be interested in this guy.
http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/1999/campbell/
http://www.jimcampbell.tv/portfolio/installations/

I saw an exhibition by him in 1999 at a gallery at ASU. He had motion detectors attached to various video installations. The one I liked best at the time was a large screen projection TV and a hidden camera. When you approached the video screen, you would see your self, and then the image of you would burst into flames depending on where you were standing. So you would be looking at your self on fire. it was pretty impressive for the year, things like that are easy now.

So you could have your projections and they could transition, or shake or do anything you want, based on the noise in the space, or use motion detectors in some way to shift the images based on some activity that is encouraged by some image or written note. There is lots you could do. All easier and cheaper and more community based than VR. VR is very individualistic and solitary.

For one, it will be easier for you to find a AV tech than to learn or pay out for VR. Much less costly for the client too.

Just some ideas thats all.

but perhaps something interactive can be made that's projected in 3D (with glasses)

Just do an old school red & blue:
http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/540142224/Free-Shipping-3D-glasses-red-blue-Re-useable-Plastic-Frame-Anaglyphic-Blue-Red-3D-Glasses-Plastic.jpg
Cheap, and still a lot of fun if the images are done right.

[Dune]

Thanks, Michael. Perhaps something with a touchscreen is indeed feasible. Visitors being able to manipulate what's being shown, able to zoom in, or travel, get information. A bit like a game like Myst (but much simpler). Not very revolutionary, but interesting and not extremely hard to make.

[bobbystahr]

Thanks, Michael. Perhaps something with a touchscreen is indeed feasible. Visitors being able to manipulate what's being shown, able to zoom in, or travel, get information. A bit like a game like Myst (but much simpler). Not very revolutionary, but interesting and not extremely hard to make.

I like this solution as well...it would trap me in a New York second...

[AP]

And here i thought a new york minute was fast.   

[mhall]

I 3D paper printing:

http://www.gizmag.com/mcor-iris-paper-3d-printer/32903/

http://www.gizmag.com/mcor-iris-paper-3d-printer/32903/pictures#2

That's printed using a stack of standard printer paper which is "sculpted" and printed with color in the same machine - imagine a large scale diorama type landscape printed in tiles and joined to create a larger space. This is apparently cheaper and friendlier than other methods as it is fully recyclable.

Combined with augmented reality like Microsoft HoloLens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUlz8DnmWq8

Or Intel RealSense:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/realsense-overview.html

To allow a viewer to don glasses/hold up a tablet and view/interact with different parts of the physical scene (think information cards/villages/vessels/settlements being display in properly oriented 3D space over the landscape. Add the ability for the user to select a card/item in the scene and have animation or other information overlaid on the scene in response to that, etc.) could make for a much more interactive/interesting presentation of historical information. All of this would be projected in proper 3D space over the physical model so that the viewer could walk around the model and see the augmented content.

Just brainstorming ...

~m

[AP]

Alright, that 3d paper printed stuff is just neat. I would join that revolution in a new york minute.