Creating interactive exhibitions and events in webVR technology

[Тэкст даступны толькі на англійскай мове] During the workshops, we will learn how to create VR spaces and AR applications using websites. It is a solution that enjoys large and growing popularity. Webvr and Webar technologies do not require installing anything on the phone or computer, they do not require specialized equipment or downloading programs from special pages, and they are immediate. We can start them by reading, for example, the QR code and immediately move to the virtual space. The Pandemic has developed but also exhausted the practices of events and online meetings. During the workshops, we will find out how to include and expand public events such as exhibitions, concerts, knowledge distribution, or commercial activities.

Day 1
lecture/seminar

"Telepresence Art - The Evolution from Proto -internet to XR Technologies in Communication"

The lecture will present the phenomenon of telepresence from a broad historical perspective - starting from ancient Greece and ending with telerobotic engineering. Telepresence has its own ontology and research methodology, not only from a technological perspective but also from a media studies, anthropology, and performative perspective. During the presentation, the definition of telepresence will be confronted with virtual reality and telematics. Telepresence reveals modern thinking about communication and changing the sense of the presence of users, which was strongly outlined in the 70s and 80s in art and early technological solutions, gaining the name of proto-Internet, prototyping many phenomena of modern applications and devices.

Workshop
It will be an approximation of the practical applications of telepresence today with the use of webVR and webAR technologies (using Three.js, HTML5, and A-Frame library) and the environment for creating video games and 3d real-time interactive applications - Unreal Engine. The first electric instrument will also be presented - the theremin, which works touchless. Its electromagnetic waves can be disturbed by hand movements, thanks to which we can change the frequency of the acoustic wave oscillator, which in turn can be converted into any data (datafication/sonification) and used to control any media (light, video image, sound sequences).

Day 2
Part 1 - Basics of creating space and interaction (90 minutes)
Workshops on creating WebVR applications in HTML5 using A-Frame libraries to support a virtual reality in web browsers. During this block, we will familiarize ourselves with creating 3D space, creating basic objects, lighting, camera setting, and basic interaction

Part 2 - texturing, modeling, and using external files (90 minutes)
This workshop block will be devoted to modeling in the Blender program and inserting external models into the project created in A-Frame. We will also learn how to use textures based on photography and video. The implementation of sound effects and soundscape and music will be discussed. Live streaming sound (concerts, podcasts) to webVR.

Day 3
Part 1 WebAR - introduction
Migration of projects from A-Frame to the webAR environment. Working with space detection based on Deep Learning. Using video holograms and interaction with 3D objects in AR.

Part 2 WebAR - application functions
Adding AR objects based on video training. Preparation of independent projects launched by QR codes - determining the topic of work to prepare the VR exhibition.

Patryk Lichota
Musician, composer, multimedia artist, music producer, curator. Graduate of Cultural Studies and Musicology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Doctor of art at the Institute of Theater and Media Art, lecturer in the field of Interactive Media and Performances at the Academy of Art in Szczecin, in the Intermedia field at the University of Arts in Poznań, member of the AMU HAT Center research center. Artistic director and producer of the FRIV improvised music festival. Co-organizer of the Radio Play Festival. Author of theater music, radio plays, creator of multimedia installations (including Cyborganic Plants, Omnihype, Oda di Neuro, Laseroom).
Composer of music for the films The Case of Josephine H. (2014) and Trucizna i 16 (2017), Hybryda (2018) by Izabella Gustowska and Transandino and Pierogarnia by K. Piasecki. Creator of the performances Strange Lóóp, Lightskin, Audit, Echo Clickers. Laserflesh, Kserotyka Nielotów, Nuż w Słuhu, Mrówcza Fuga. Author of the dance music project for the deaf - DEAFINVIBE. Creator of the Fonoleptic live video project, author of music videos and visuals for concerts, theater performances, VR spaces and AR applications.
Creator of the experimental video game "Datafixation" presented at the Ars Electronica Festival 2022. He was awarded of a 7-month artistic and research scholarship at the National Tsing Hua in Taiwan Visegrad Foundation. Creator of the BEELOCATION project using advanced movement sonification, which was presented on concert tours in Japan, Taiwan, Spain and Norway. Creator of the MAY TOWN exhibition designed in virtual and augmented reality for the Schaubühne Lindenfels theater. His scientific work deals with virtual reality and telepresence, cybereschatology, interactivity, sound art and sound design, theory of new media and video games.
Author of scientific books: "Traditions of noise in the art of sound" (2015) and "Transpositions of presence in media art - from telekinesis to telepresence" (2020).