A few days ago I tried virtual reality for the first time. A friend showed me the ropes at the UVic digital commons and I was able to enter a new world. I was most interested in the applications of virtual reality to visual art, which is my primary teaching area. Drawing in virtual reality is already exploding, and now I can see why. The experience opens up a new understanding of how a line can function in space. There is a famous quote by painter Paul Klee. It goes: “Drawing is like taking a line for a walk”. Drawing in Virtual Reality allowed me to literally take a line for a walk, and walk over around and through that line.
me drawing in 3d
I started with drawing by making a room around myself, and furnishing it with objects. I could move around the room and the objects because they occupied the same space as my body. My drawing was therefore as physical as a sculpture, but permeable as it was still depicted in contour.
I could see this technology being hugely useful in secondary art class – and very very good fun. Drawing in 3d would be a good way to teach students about perspective, which can sometimes be dry and challenging. This technology could also bridge the gap between drawing and sculpture, as the product is experienced as both. This program could also allow students to draw new worlds in a way that is more immersive than every before experienced. I love how intuitive the technology was, complete with haptic responses to the marks. This would be easy for students to learn and would open doors to new art forms we likely cant even comprehend.
Bronwyn McMillin 