Art in virtual reality

Submitted by Lorien Nettleton
Phone: (907) 450-8628
05/01/06

The future of computer-generated art will be on display when visual art and high performance technology fuse during The Arctic Region Supercomputing Center’s annual First Friday Art Walk. ARSC is opening the Discovery Lab virtual theater to the public to host Art in 3D, which combines high performance technology and visual art in a virtual art show on Friday, May 5 from 5 to 8 p.m.

During the event, visitors will be invited to take a scenic tour of wild Alaska or walk through historic downtown Fairbanks circa 1910.

In Alaska Panorama, Fairbanks artist and ARSC Visualization Specialist Bill Brody brings to life nine vivid 3D landscapes complete with surround sound to create a full sensory experience. Each panorama captures a notable Alaska region through high-resolution photography, mapped on to three-dimensional space to give viewers the sensation of full immersion in a virtual environment.

For Virtual History: a walking tour of Fairbanks circa 1910 UAF Master of Fine Arts students Chao Peng and Siyuan Wang drew upon their background in architecture design to re-create three-dimensional buildings from photographs obtained from Alaska’s Digital Image Archives.

The Discovery Lab is in the basement of Rasmuson Library, accessible from the outer loading docks off of Tanana Loop.