What is the project?

One for Sorrow, is a project developed by Dr. Lynne Heller (Adjunct Professor, Data Materialization Studio, OCAD University) and the artist David McClyment (Professor & Program Co-ordinator, Fine Arts Studio, Centennial College, Canada).

A landscape/game/sojourn created in virtual reality (VR), seeks to con- found the dichotomies between hand and digital making as well as the illusion of two dimensionality versus three. It is work that troubles the translation of the handmade into the digital using collage, assemblage and montage along with craft theory. Though ostensibly a first-person puzzle game, the experience uses the historic nursery rhyme, of the same name, to entice the player to explore and discover, not necessarily mixed realities, but rather, mixed sensibilities?2D/3D, hand/algorithm, drawn/photographic. Digital and handmade aesthetics, coupled with considered sound design and narra- tive, can evoke an immersive experience and provide an unorthodox model for VR art.

My challenges and responsibilities

Since 2009 the Government of Canada announced the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) to support the development of human capital and the next generation of leaders in the Americas while strengthening the linkages between post-secondary institutions in Canada and Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2018, I was awarded a scholarship from the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) to conduct research during one academic period, related to my research in my home institution, in order to complete my masters studies.

As a developer and ELAP Researcher at the Data Materialization Studio – OCAD University, I helped the project’s team to create several interactive VR demos based on the project’s artistic concepts.

I explored the use of ambisonic sound, lighting effects and shaders development for the virtual space’s environment. In addition, solutions for user’s mobility and interactivity with virtual elements were programmed in C# in the Unity IDE. Tests were deployed using Google Cardboard and Google Daydream interfacing its 3DOF hand’s controller. Later, the demos and more experiments were adapted to the Unreal IDE interfacing the HTC Vive with its 6DOF hands’ controllers.

Specifications:

• Programming using C# in the Unity IDE
• Building with Unreal IDE
• Tests with Google Cardboard, Google Daydrem and HTC Vive
• Samsung smartphones, Mac and Windows plataforms

Results achieved

• One for Sorrow VR Demo for Mobile VR and HTC Vive

Participated in the following exhibitions and events:

• HELLER, L. ; MCCLYMENT, D. ; MOZELLI, A. H. M. . One For Sorrow Crafting Virtual Reality. In: Shared Ground: Cross Disciplinary Approaches to Craft Studies, 2018, New York. Shared Ground: Cross Disciplinary Approaches to Craft Studies, 2018.