Into the Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality
Oliver Grau is a professor for Image Science and Dean of Department for Cultural Studies at Danube University.
Shervinafshar / CC-BY-SA-3.0
In "Into the Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality," Grau argues that virtual reality is a phenomenon that exists since Antiquity and that the intensity of the illusion depends on how intimately the interface clings to the senses of the viewers.
Definition of virtual reality (VR)
The idea of transposing the audience into an enclosed, illusionary visual space. As a consequence of that definition, VR can happen in different contexts. This affirmation is supported by examples from art history.
Historical Context of VR
VR in ritual action
casa dei misteri4 by doriana del sarto on Flickr.
casa dei misteri3 by doriana del sarto on Flickr.
Casa dei Misteri at Pompeii (60 BC) is decorated with beautiful frescos that represent a Dionysian ritual. This room becomes an illusionary space made of life-sized realistic figures because they seem to move in our reality. This place can be seen as a portal for the Gods to visit our reality and for the humans to enter in the image. The audience creates strong emotional links with these images because of their visual qualities.
VR in private, artificial paradise
Sala delle prospettive by spacedlawyer on Flickr.
Sala delle prospettive by spacedlawyer on Flickr.
Sala delle Prospettive was created by Bladassare Peruzzi for the nouveau riche Agonstino Chigi. The walls in this room have been adorned with fresco of a columned hall and Roman countryside. The artwork was so detailed that it created the illusion of a virtual space beyond the room. By facing the wall from the right perspective, Peruzzi created the illusion that you were standing in an open-air terrace looking over the countryside. This piece was so successful that some said they were unwilling to believe that it was in fact a painting.
VR in public sphere / politically suggestive power
Panoramas were invented by Robert Barker in 1787.
The first picture was painted in water-colour on a complete circle twenty-five feet in diameter, on a surface of paper pasted on canvas, and the work was carried out in the guard-room of the palace of Holyrood. (Wikisource)
Perspective drawing was used in military reconnaissance. Observing and knowing topological details made it easier to come with tactical plans in wars.
Inside a panorama, the audience is surrounded by 3D images lighted from behind. The audience has the impression to be travel through time and space.
Panoramas were used as propaganda tool because they were able to create good realistic reproduction of military campaigns and battles. People experienced them as an artificial reality rather than as a singular image. The aim of panoramas such as the one reproducing the Battle of Sedan was to implant this scene into the collective memory.
Technological Aspects of VR
Virtual reality exists to create illusions for the senses in a way that make a more total immersion for the onlooker. Virtual reality “appeals to all senses and occupies physiological space as immediately and imperceptibly as possible.” If perceived actions equals probable phenomena, then what is seen is taken for real. Some technologies related to virtual reality are as follows:
Technologies
Stereoscope
Cinerama
Stereopticon
Photorama
Stereoscopic TV
Sensorama
IMAX-cinema
Stereoscope
Stereoscopy is a technique used to create the illusion of depth from a pair of 2 dimensional images. A form of stereoscopy is to present the viewer with a pair of offset images. The brain then combines these two images, suggesting the perception of depth.
Stereoscopic TV
Stereoscopic television was first demonstrated in 1928 and it is still the most popular method of recording and displaying 3D video today. 3D video is created by filming with two cameras side by side, mimicking the distance between a person's pupils. Steroscopic television often uses Anaglyph 3D to display the 3D image. Anaglyph 3D is "a composite picture printed in two colors that produces a three-dimensional image when viewed through glasses having lenses of corresponding colors (Reference.com)." Usually these colours are red and blue.
Devices
head mounted display and tracking by dmkrum on Flickr.
Various devices such as head-mounted display, dataglove, and vest can be worn by a user and allow him or her to enter an interactive and dynamic image.
Contemporary examples
Osmose, virtual reality installation by Char Davies/Softimages, 1995.
Osmose uses a Head Mounted Display to immerse the user into a 3D simulation of nature and text spaces. This project is particularly interesting because participants navigate through the 3D space by breathing. By wearing a rubber vest the players are able to navigate the virtual spaces in a way that a diver might. You inhale to rise and exhale to fall.
A-Volve, interactive real-time installation by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau, 1994-95.
Participants were able to create virtual characters and to interact with them through a simple and intuitive interface. After sketching creatures on a touch-screen, they were displayed inside a water-filled tank. Participants could directly influence the evolution of creatures by stroking the water. The interaction between artificial life and the participants create the unexpected and encourage reactions from the user. Therefore, the overall evolution of the artwork depends upon the users rather than on the artists.
It's difficult for participants to differentiate what is real from what is artificial when they are actively involved in a virtual reality experience.
Conclusions
A live picture is experienced in a better way when the interface is more real and more natural. With the power of computer, we can fake the reality in a way that it seems more and more exactly like the real life, thus allowing for psychological manipulation.
The notion of distance is crucial. Too much distance weaken the psychological link between the artwork and the onlooker. Too little distance makes it impossible for the subject to experience the artwork as a subject.
Reference
Oliver Grau, "Into the Belly of the Image: Historical Aspects of Virtual Reality," Leonardo, Vol. 32, No 5, Seventh New York Digital Salon (1999), pp. 365-371.
