A brilliant, groundbreaking 'Virtual Reality' immersive environment. Donning a helmet, viewers can slowly float through a shimmering 3D space of artificial earth, tree, and water - their movement controlled by their own breathing. They are totally immersed in a digital environment of luminous beauty, with full interactive 3D sound supported by state-of-the-art equipment. Other viewers can witness a projection of what the 'immersant' is seeing/hearing, and see a silhouette of their movements in the helmet. The work is a meditative piece which concerns nature and consciousness, and challenges the crude images and mental vacuum of much commercial VR. European Premiere. Produced by Softimage, by the team: Char Davies - concept and direction; Georges Mauro- graphics; John Harrison - VR software development; Rick Bidlack - music composition/ programming; Dorota Blaszczak - sound design/ programming. Osmose has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal, and in New York. Osmose showing sponsored by Softimage. Grateful acknowledgement is made of companies who loaned equipment to show Osmose: Crystal River Engineering, a subsidiary of Aureal Semiconductor, who loaned the Aureal 3D interactive audio equipment and Division Limited who loaned the dVISOR helmet. Also help from the Canadian High Commission. Please note that to be an 'immersant' wearing the headset in Osmose, the Virtual Reality piece, you need to make a 20-minute appointment in advance (other audience members can experience the artwork through video projection and stereo sound). This showing of Osmose is sponsored by Softimage. Above is the original copy from 1996. Below is additional material: Char Davies home page |
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