Over the past two decades, interactive 3D technology has percolated through much of modern culture. It is an integral part of scientific, medical, and industrial research and development and plays a pivotal role in entertainment and advertising. Lately, museums and art galleries around the world are taking the medium in astonishing new directions.

Char Davies, Seeds, from Ephémère, 1998

Digital image captured in real-time
through head-mounted display during live immersive journey/performance.

The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa recently finished showing Canadian artist Char Davies' Ephémère, an immersive virtual reality (VR) exhibition. According to Janice Seline, associate curator of media arts at the museum, Ephémère was the first interactive VR installation exhibited at the gallery and a good example of the way art and technology can mingle effectively.

Regarded as the Silicon Valley of Canada, Ottawa has a strong local following for new technology, and the exhibit fit well into the museum's media arts program. Seline estimated that about 3,000 patrons experienced Ephémère as immersants, and additional museum goers were constantly watching the screen. "We've been fully booked all summer, and the comment book was overflowing with positive remarks." In Seline's opinion, contemporary art has more than enough room for works like Ephémère.

Char Davies

Originally trained as a painter and filmmaker, Davies became a founding director of SoftImage, Inc., the groundbreaking 3D graphics software company. She served as vice president/director of visual research for SoftImage from 1988 to 1997, until leaving the company to form her own production company, Immersence. During the past four years, Davies has created two immersive VR environments for public exhibition, both of which utilize Silicon Graphics hardware. Osmose opened in the summer of 1995 and Davies' newest work, Ephémère, debuted on June 26, 1998 at the National Gallery of Canada, where it was exhibited through September 7.

Becoming Immersant

Participants wear a standard stereoscopic helmet that also generates localized 3D sound

Osmose and Ephémère are unique environments that even VR sophisticates find startling. Davies' work allows participants or "immersants" to explore dreamy landscapes alive with abstracted natural forms, including trees, rocks, and moving water. While participants wear a standard stereoscopic helmet that also generates localized 3D sound, motion is controlled by a vest specially designed by John Harrison and Georges Mauro. Outfitted with sensors, resistors, and Polhemus Fastrak, the vest allows a participant to control vertical motion by breathing and horizontal movement by simply leaning in the direction one wishes to go. To bring a larger audience into the experience, what the immersant sees and hears is projected onto a large, wall-mounted display.

Transcending the Limits of 2D

Char Davies, Forest grid, from Osmose, 1995

Digital image captured in real-time
through head-mounted display during
live performance.

Davies believes that her own transition from painting into virtual realms was a logical step. "I moved from painting to 3D graphics because the 2D plane had begun to limit what I wanted to convey. I wanted to create the sense of being enveloped in a luminous space, which was impossible with a 2D output. That was when I started to get involved with VR." John Harrison, the engineer who designed the VR software for both Osmose and Ephémère, explained that Davies' work was well suited to a VR environment. "Char showed me some of her paintings, transparencies, and computer-generated images, and the sort of liquid feel they had completely blew me away. She said she wanted the same feeling in her paintings only in 3D and VR and real time. Some of the paintings took up to 40 hours to render, so I realized we were looking at quite a challenge."

Creative Collaboration

Char Davies, Subterranean Earth,
from Osmose, 1995

Digital image captured in real-time
through head-mounted display during live immersive journey/performance.

Harrison explained that the team Davies assembled, including himself and 3D computer graphics designer Georges Mauro, collaborated closely during the design and production process. Sound engineering and programming were added to Ephémère by Dorota Blaszczak and Rick Bidlack. "There were no story boards or plan beforehand. The project was allowed to grow until we were all happy with the result. We were creating something personally satisfying, but we were also pushing the ceiling for high-end SoftImage products. What I loved about working with Char is that every day there was a completely different set of problems to solve. It was constantly challenging, never boring."

Osmose was originally developed on a Silicon Graphics RealityEngine Crimson system, and a single Onyx InfiniteReality system was eventually used for display purposes. Harrison believes that the Onyx InfiniteReality system with four processors and two RM6s that was used for both developing and displaying Ephémère was the best machine for the job. "To preserve the translucent effect of Char's work, we rendered many, many layers, drawing each pixel 30 or 40 times. We needed something that could draw pixels at an incredible rate, and the powerful way Silicon Graphics machines handle texturing worked very well for what were trying to accomplish. The Onyx InfiniteReality system is a textbook case for how to build an excellent graphics engine."

Bringing the Body into Cyberspace

Char Davies, Tree, from Osmose, 1995

Digital image captured in real-time
through head-mounted display during
live performance.

Davies explained that she found inspiration for her work in her own scuba diving experiences and in trends she observes in modern society. "Breathing is an essential, grounding experience for everyone. I also feel that people in our culture are quite isolated. On the Net, people love to get together to communicate, yet the experience is totally disembodied. I find that a strange, paradoxical situation. Both Osmose and Ephémère are driven by the goal of bringing the body into cyberspace by emphasizing nature and the subjective function of breath."

Endless Waves of Comings and Goings

Although there are similarities between the two works, Ephémère creates startling metaphoric links between organic and human forms. Rocks and roots mutate into organs and bones. Forest rivers become rushing blood streams. It is also a more complex and interactive work, according to Davies. "At one point, we realized that Ephémère was exponentially more complex than Osmose. Osmose is like a stage set, where things are there for the whole duration of the piece that only fade as you pass from one scene into another. The intent of Ephémère is to examine mortality, ephemerality, and loss. Every single thing comes into being, lingers, and then passes away. The landscape on the upper level is constantly cycling from day to night and through the seasons. In the body level, the organs give way to bones that begin to fade until all that is left is dust. It's like endless waves of comings and goings, visually and sonically. One of the interactive modes we used was gaze. If you gaze at certain objects long enough, they grow and evolve into other forms. Both of these works reward patience and gentleness. That seems to be part of my whole work as an artist."

Serving as a Reminder

While Davies agrees that her work draws subtle attention to the disappearance of nature and its possible replacement by virtual simulations, she believes her overall focus is far broader. "When I'm talking about loss and endings and mortality, I'm talking as much about our own lives as I am the species that are dropping off the cliff of extinction. I mean, we all will eventually lose our lives sooner or later. That's a truth our culture tends to ignore. What my work is becoming more and more about is to serve as a reminder of the fact that we're here, and it's extraordinary, and we're not here for very long. As an artist, as a person, I feel compelled to say that over and over again."

Images courtesy Immersence Inc. © 1998-2007. All rights reserved.