The future is now: virtual reality, AR and AI in media art

With progress and developments in science and technology, virtual reality technology as a modern high-tech concept has aroused people's interest.

It gets deeper and deeper into all areas of human life and plays an increasingly important role. In our current era, shaped by the rapid development of digital media technologies and a diverse media spectrum, virtual reality technology creates realistic virtual3D environments using its three-dimensional graphic arts , multi-sensory interaction techniques and highly developed resolution displays .

A special interactive device is required to enter these virtual worlds. The technology is increasingly used in various important areas of contemporary digital media design and thus represents a pioneering source of information.

In this article we would like to present various digital media about virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in order to illuminate the progress in the development of technologies to create virtual realities.

The use of virtual reality technology in digital media art proves to be extremely practical for artists and leads to a steady increase in creative forms of expression.

The use of these groundbreaking technologies - even with the involvement of artificial intelligence (AI) can make a valuable contribution to the creation of high -quality digital art and hopefully stimulate and inspire artists and readers alike.

Digital art of tomorrow: How AR and AI expand our creative borders

Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) expand our creative limits and change the way we look at art. But what does that mean for the art world?

Virtual Reality (VR) is already an important part of art because it offers the viewer an immersive experience . With VR technology you can immerse yourself in virtual worlds and act interactively with them.

AR , on the other hand, enables artists to integrate virtual objects into their real environments and thus create new opportunities for interaction.

Mixed reality - also hybrid media - represents another technology that combines both VR and AR and thus offers more options for expanding the experience experience.

The art of tomorrow will be enriched by these technologies and show us new ways of how we can work creatively.

We can look forward to what the future brings in, because one thing is certain: AR and AI are around!

Conceptual explanations - VR, AR, ML and KI

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality is a reality generated by computers that is experienced in the form of a virtual 360-degree environment. In this ideally freely accessible environment, there may also be the possibility of interaction with virtual objects.

In addition, the spectrum of virtual reality also includes content that only puts the user into a virtual environment, be it in the 180-degree or in the 360-degree range. This includes pictures, films, concerts and much more.

Immersion describes the feeling of immersing in a virtual reality. If the user of virtual reality is completely integrated into this world and its interaction, VR experiences are created with an immediate proximity and a high level of realism.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality (AR) is the experience of an environment in which the real world is expanded by computer -generated content. This can be done, for example, with the help of AR glasses, smartphones or tablets , whereby the viewers: inside can perceive this content as part of their real environment.

In contrast, VR replaces the real environment entirely with a simulated world. AR mainly uses artificial visual and auditory elements, but other sensory experiences are also possible. Unlike VR and MR, AR is not interactive, but a projection of digital content in the real environment.

Machine learning (ml)

Machine Learning is an advanced digital technology based on artificial intelligence and is used, among other things, to produce digital images. algorithms use certain input data such as training data or data sets to automatically identify and use patterns.

This process generates countless variations within the recognized pattern. A clear example of this is the generation of photo -realistic views of views, in which millions of photos already existing serve as the basis.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence (AI) , also known as Artificial Intelligence (AI) , forms the basis for imitation of human intelligence. This is done by creating and using algorithms, which are integrated into a dynamic computing environment.

In other words, KI tries to make computers think of how people think and behave.

There are three central components that are of great importance:

1. Computing systems
2. Data and data management
3. Extended AI algorithms (code)

The more "more human" the desired result is, the more data and processing performance are required.

algorithm

In connection with digital media, AI, AR and NFTS, the term of algorithm often falls.

An algorithm is generally a specific method to solve a problem. It consists of individual instructions that are carried out one after the other and convert input data into output data. Algorithms are of crucial importance and indispensable in the areas of mathematics, computer science and the digital world.

Calculation models and statistical calculations are often used as the basis to quickly process data and numbers in large quantities. Algorithms can therefore be seen as a kind of further development of traditional computers that go far beyond the basic addition and subtraction and create and calculate demanding formulas from our everyday life.

As a figure throttle, you can go back with popular traditional arithmetic machines at the beginning of evolution to understand how numbers have an impact on all areas of our lives - from health to school tasks. At the same time, this conveys an understanding of the nuances of financial values ​​and statistical data. Calculation models can also be implemented in the area of ​​computer science. For example, a subnet mask can be calculated .

The cultural and historical roots of digital media

Digital media art is part of new media art . It is an art form that has arisen with the development of science and technology. It is not only interactive, but also uses network media as a communication medium.

It includes film and television animations, online games, VR, Multimedia, digital music, video and interactive installations.

With the development of science and technology, the media revolution has led to the development of new media styles. The continuous further development of digital media art has continuously updated the way people experience art and at the same time changed people's artistic aesthetics

"The production and reproduction of realities has long been concerned with art and science. With the change in media culture and the digitization of society, these questions are more urgent than ever today",

argues professor Kirsten Dickhaut , provisional director of the Institute for Literary Science (ILW) of the University of Stuttgart.

In the Stuttgart research focus (SRF) RE2, scientists analyze theatrical techniques such as staging or choreography and their influence on the design of realities in contemporary media.

Interdisciplinary project teams research the cultural -historical roots of i nterActions and communication in digital rooms : they examine the conditions and patterns with which media simulate and design realities. They also investigate the question of how users receive the worlds created there.

holograms , 3D animations , immersive experiences and virtual tours with interaction options, digitization keeps its way into theater and museums, while digital media and digital artists not only use theater techniques and practices to create virtual spaces, but also for communication.

"Even in Greek and Roman theaters, people fell or lower their fingers. Whether Facebook, Twitter or Instagram: This gesture is still a way to form community formation."

Theater techniques and conventions are used for video conferences, virtual reality presentations, the development of computer games, the presentation of digital art and autonomous vehicles as well as in the interaction between humans and robots in creative production processes.

The beauty of art lies in its ability to create emotions and stimulate imagination, but to understand the message behind a work can be a challenge. Against this background, computer scientists from the University of Luxembourg examined the potential of progressive artificial intelligence (AI) and the latest deep learning techniques in the field of cultural heritage.

Your research aims to solve the challenge, to recommend works of art in environments such as museums, art galleries and exhibitions in a personalized manner in which subjective content, complex concepts and emotional reflections play a role here: "When ai Recommends Art'll Love" ).

The importance of VR, AR and AI in the modern art world

"Virtual Reality" (VR) and "Augmented Reality" (AR) have long since established themselves in industry, research and teaching. But how do artists deal with these new worlds? What options do these technologies offer with regard to forms of expression and subjects in a work of art?

On the one hand, what does the digital expansion of space for art mean? And what does it mean on the other hand for the viewer and thus for the perception of art?

Relevance for the art world

The relevance of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) for the art world is undisputed. The technologies not only expand our creative limits, but also enable new types of interaction between users and virtual objects.

In particular, the integration of AR in the creative process of artists offers many opportunities to expand the image of reality and create an immersive experience. Virtual Reality (VR) is already successfully used in art to expand the experience experience and immerse the viewer into a virtual world.

Companies like PlayStation have already launched VR glasses that enable users to completely immerse themselves in the virtual world.

Mixed reality or hybrid reality are also becoming increasingly popular; They combine real objects with virtual elements and thus create an even more realistic experience. According to the Heise newsletter in July 2021, there are even VR-Caves-rooms in which you can move completely freely while you are completely immersed in virtual.

Overall, AR, VR and other virtual technologies of the art world offer many new opportunities to expand creative expression and to create an immersive experience for the viewer - be it in the field of marketing or in creating new worlds by artists.

Possibilities of Virtual Reality (VR) in art

Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers artists new opportunities to create immersive viewing experience.

With VR glasses, users can immerse themselves in a virtual world and interact as if they were actually in this world.

The possible uses of VR in art are diverse - from the expansion of the experience experience to the integration of virtual objects into the real world .

Immersive viewing options

Everyone can now break through the restrictions of time and space at their own discretion. No matter where you are, you can put yourself in your own experience, and digital media art is a combination of art design concepts and computer technology, which is to be represented by the media.

Digital media can convey a feeling for a dynamic and diverse art landscape. If digital multimedia art is combined with virtual reality technology, this can improve the interactive experience between the experienced and digital media. Users literally feel the beauty of art in virtual space.

The VR area built with VR technology also enriches the public experience of art view. With the help of virtual reality technology, the artist can use his imagination, so that from exciting emotions, past scenes can be derived to get closer to work and better understand the work.

There is also a VI IRTUAL reality theater that uses this method. It is a completely immersive virtual reality system that completely surrounds the audience with several high-cube screens and shows the same content on each Cube screen, so that the audience completely immerses in the world. While you look at these pictures on these screens at the same time, immerse yourself in the virtual world of pictures.

Virtual room concepts and Tilt Brush VR technology for the creation of art

Virtual reality technology offers artistic flexible creative possibilities compared to traditional paintings. With the improvement and progress of virtual reality and improving reality technology, many artists, virtual room concepts and the Tilt Brush VR technology to use software that can be used in virtual space.

It combines the traditional art paper pin with the virtual possibilities of 3D computers. Tilt Brush is an application that stereoscopic images in a virtual space.

Tools such as headers, envelopes and handstand devices are used. This creates works of art in the virtual space according to an inner idea, with the mobile device of the handheld device of the creator.

This painting created with Tilt Brush VR is also collected by Google's first virtual reality art exhibition in San Francisco worldwide. This technology has brought more creations to the animation creation, increased the feelings of characters and scenes creations and created more opportunities for digital creation.

VR technology for architects and filmmakers

Thanks to the XRTISAN , designers can “build” houses in this process directly in the virtual space .

The designer can change the size and height of the object in the virtual space via the control lever of the handheld device and conveniently add additional material to the object if necessary.

The architect or designer only has to act in virtual space and the most authentic effect can be achieved. With this technology, more work can be done in a shorter time, which increases not only the efficiency of the design work, but also the quality of the work.

Thanks to an external equipment helmet, the designer can run when building the house, and the effect of the experience is like a walk through the renovated house.

Similar software programs also have a holy studio , and developers can carry out three -dimensional modeling directly in the virtual space depending on the gesture of the user and add materials and colors.

It is only more progressive to print 3D printer

There are also similar programs from Quill in the field of film and television production . This is a program that specializes in animation and film creation and is involved in the creation of split-rotary books as well as drawing conceptual drawings and art design for films.

time dimensions to paint and at the same time offers linear processing functions.

Exhibition "Mixed Realities"

As a first museum exhibition on the topic in the innovation and technology region of Stuttgart, the Stuttgart art museum six exemplary artistic positions, which deal with both analog and digital processes.

Tim Berresheim, Spiros Hadjidjanos, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Mélodie Mousset, Regina Silveira and The Swan Collective deal with elements of the physical, real and virtual world and both connect them in their works.

The large special exhibition examined five years ago how the different forms of expression influence, correspond to and expand each other.

The term "mixed realities" underlines the thesis of the exhibition that digital and analogous, virtual and real worlds do not exist in parallel or mean opposites, but can form a continuum and can complement and/or even enrich each other - in any case in a constant exchange.

Integration of augmented reality in the creative process of artists

The integration of augmented reality in the creative process of artists is another step towards expanding the creative limits. Thanks to the possibility of integrating virtual objects into a real environment, completely new design options open up for artists.

AR can not only be used as a medium for interaction with virtual objects, but also serve as a tool for creating works of art.

For example, 3D models can be projected and changed directly into the real world.

"Present Futures: Virtual and Augmented Reality in ART" - ACUTE ART with the renowned Royal College of Art and the world's leading contemporary artists and offers access to the most modern technologies that enable them to implement their creative vision in NFTs as well as virtual and expanded realities.

The program is managed by John Slyce (Senior Tutor, RCA) and Daniel Birnbaum (artistic director, acute art) and offers an introduction to a fascinating world of new technologies and how virtual and expanded realities change contemporary art and their institutions.

Participants of the course will encounter contributions from leading representatives of some of the most important institutions of London as well as some of the most influential artists, editors and collectors of the present - including Olafur Eliasson , Hans Ulrich Obrist and Brian Donnelly/Kaws .

Innovative design through virtual experimentation

Virtual experimentation enables innovative design and opens up new ways of implementing their creative ideas. By using Virtual Reality (VR), you can test and optimize various designs in a digital environment before going to implement it.

Virtual experimentation offers the opportunity to simulate materials or try out textures. This enables artists to create innovative surface structures or research unconventional material combinations.

In addition, VR technologies also enable new formats or dimensionalities. For example, with the help of VR, a sculptor can look at a sculpture of different sizes and find out which proportion works best.

Virtual worlds also offer exciting opportunities for experimental design in the field of architecture

Building designs can be visualized in 3D and it is possible to “go” through these rooms before they have been realized - this saves time and costs when planning a project.

The integration of augmented reality (AR) also expands the perspective of the virtual experiment: virtual objects can be seamlessly integrated into real scenarios. This interactive character gives the user the chance to actively participate in the design for example by moving furniture or changing color schemes - this achieves the most individual result and at the same time enriches the creative process.

Photogrammetry, 3D scanning, 3D printing, augmented reality as well as CGI and machine learning in photography

The exhibition "Expect the Unexpected - Current Concepts for Photography" by the Bonn Art Museum is devoted to the questions about the new visual worlds of digital change and how current technological developments artistic photography .

In it, representative artistic positions of the past ten years are presented, which have made a significant contribution to expanding and redesigning artistic photography.

In addition to the conventional photographic tools, the artists also use new tools based on photography such as photogrammetry , 3D scanning , 3D printing , augmented reality as well as CGI and machine learning .

For the exhibition in the Bonn Art Museum, Achim Mohné a 3D printed model of the art museum and a video that shows a virtual model of the museum. These scenic models of the art museum are based on a specially developed analog digital process, in which Mohné does not create pictures of the selected location from all sides with virtual "camera roles" in the Google Earth app.

With the help of photogrammetry, these screenshots calculate a three-dimensional, virtual architectural model, which is then 3D printed and exhibited.

Both the 3D model and the virtual model of the museum shown in the video appear distorted, blurred, the colors are steamed, the shapes are simplified, the deep flatter, glitches and disorders ensure alienation.

This visual effect leads to an ambivalent relationship between the absorbed location and its picture and thus to the question of the image tools we work every day and how they influence and shape our environment every day.

Mohné's work continues outside: On the Museumsplatz, near the art museum, there is a tree that Achim Mohné also photographed from Google Earth data.

With the help of augmented reality, a QR code enables visitors to overlay Mohné's "Google Earth-Baum" on their smartphone with the real tree-so the boundaries between reality and virtual image blur both of them.

Sources, references and further information:

• Lydia Lehmann , University of Applied Sciences, University of Stuttgart:  Like on Stage: “Re/Producing Realities” is Investigating How Digital Media Create Realities; https://idw-online.de/de/news819833
• Royal College of Art X Acute Art:  Present Futures: Virtual and Augmented Reality in Art ; https://acuteart.com/royal-college-of-art-x-acute-art/
• Xingming Wu and Yehan Li : Experience Mode of Digital Media Art Under Virtual Reality Technology ; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc8786544/
• Yue dai on Hindawi : Digital Media Art Creation Based on Virtual Reality and Semantic Feature Fusion ; https://www.hindawi.com/journals/wcmc/2022/9144951/

• Kunstmuseum Bonn : Expect the Unexpected - Current concepts for photography ; https://www.kunstmuseum-bonn.de/de/ exhibitions/expect-the-unexpected/

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza. Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.

www.kunstplaza.de/