Virtual reality (VR) is known for being able to transport an individual and immerse them into another world. People can feel quite frustrated trying to get up close and personal to art works or attending art exhibitions. Tourists will be taking selfies in-front of paintings and it can get very crowded. What if you didn’t have to endure all that, and had an exhibition or museum completely to yourself to study and enjoy some art in peace?
Dutch based company Ikonospace have created a software toolset to enable this. VRFocus spoke to Jerome Demnard about the platform and how he hopes cultural institutions and artists from around the world can showcase their art pieces in a beautiful environment completely created by themselves.
One of the key features about Ikonospace is that it can be created using both Mac and PC, Demnard says. “We’re a software toolset to really facilitate cultural institution and even artists to basically create a 3D environment and showcase their art. To be able to create virtual exhibition for tablet, PC but most importantly we really want people to create content for VR.” The virtual spaces that are created go up on a server and can then be viewed or experienced on the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
Users can create the space, bring in scans of 3D objects or 2D art pieces into the space by simply dragging and dropping a folder into the environment editor. They are also working on adding points of interest, for if the curator or artists would like to add more information to the pieces or the user wants to find out more information. They are also looking to add features such as audio guides, videos as well as potentially ways of integrating interactivity with art pieces.
Demnard says that having users in the space is potentially also healthy and therapeutic. He tells VRFocus that they’re based in Amsterdam where it always rains. They put a woman into their VR museum who was a little depressed, and she was able to explore a beautifully lit museum where the sun would come streaming down and she didn’t want to leave the VR experience.
At the moment Demnard is focusing on making Ikonospace as an alternative for small artists hoping to showcase their art, artists who might not have been picked up yet. They are exploring into making it an e-commerce platform where artists can also potentially sell their art through the platform too. They are also looking at creating a gallery through Steam VR, to help build a platform for artists to publish content to.
The Ikonospace Beta is in development and will go live over the next two months. You can find out more information about Ikonospace in the video below.