Week 20

Workshops

This week, I had an individual tutorial where I reviewed all the work I’ve completed so far for this unit. It was a helpful opportunity to reflect on my progress, receive feedback, and identify areas for improvement as I move forward. During workshop sessions, I focused on completing the task documentation for my XR project. This involved pasting code and screenshots from Unity into my documentation and writing detailed explanations about how different parts of the project function. I wrote specifically about how I’ve used custom scripts within Unity to control elements of the virtual environment and explained how physics plays a crucial role in making the VR experience feel immersive and believable. I explored how the Unity physics engine is used to simulate realistic movement and interactions, particularly when it comes to gravity, collisions, and object behaviour in three-dimensional space. To support my understanding and improve my work, I also read Chapter 18, titled ‘Optimizing Your Virtual Reality Experiences’ by S. A. Christian. This chapter provided valuable insights into improving performance and user comfort in VR environments, covering topics like frame rates, draw calls, and efficient scene management. It helped me better understand the technical considerations behind creating a smooth, high-quality VR experience and gave me ideas to apply in my own project. Overall, the combination of technical documentation, reading, and feedback made this a productive and insightful week.

Lecture

This week, we had a lecture by Lee Mason, a tech and blockchain artist known for his innovative work at the intersection of digital art and emerging technologies. During the session, he shared his journey as an artist and how he began exploring blockchain as a creative medium, particularly through the use of NFTs and decentralized platforms. He spoke about how blockchain can be used not only for ownership and authentication of digital artworks, but also as a tool for artists to maintain control over their work and establish new forms of value and engagement with audiences. Lee also discussed some of his own projects, offering insights into the creative process behind blending code, visual design, and technology to produce interactive, thought-provoking pieces. He introduced us to many of his projects he’s worked on over the years and his current projects as well. It was interesting to see how some of his work was made into physical statues that he displays around the world and sold to various people. His lecture was inspiring and opened up a new perspective on how technology, particularly blockchain, can be harnessed in artistic practice.