Extended Reality (XR) and Art- What are XRT Studio Stories about?

XR art is a form of creative expression that uses technology to allow people to interact with computer-simulated elements or environments.

Technologies have been advancing and intertwining with different fields and creative industries, providing new approaches to convey messages. One such technology is extended reality, which greatly impacts various industries, including the art industry. You might have already seen some galleries in virtual reality or visited a physical gallery that had a unique gallery with augmented reality. This article will explore how extended reality has been integrated into the art industry as an artwork, educational tool, and art gallery, among other applications.

Photo by Stella Jacob on Unsplash

If you're new to the field of extended reality, defining some important terms like extended, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality can be helpful. It's important to note that there is an ongoing debate within the industry and academic world over the exact definitions of these terms.

What is Extended Reality (XR)?

Extended reality is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of immersive technologies, that alter reality by adding digital elements including virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. While XR is commonly used as an abbreviation of extended reality, some argue that it is not an accurate term as virtual reality is not an extension of reality but rather a replacement. They suggest using the term ‘xReality’ as a more fitting term. 

Fig 1. XReality (XR) framework: Augmented and Virtual Reality [1]

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality refers to a three-dimensional computer-generated environment that allows one or more individuals to interact with and explore it. Generally, virtual reality is thought of as a fully immersive technology that includes the use of various head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as Meta Quest 3, Pico, Varjo and HTC Vive. However, there is a wide variety of VR applications that can differ in terms of the level of immersion and how users experience them whether within a CAVE, PC VR or VR Treadmill.

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What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality involves using software, applications, and hardware such as AR glasses or mobile phones to overlay digital content onto real-life environments. This allows users to interact with these digital elements seamlessly, blurring the lines between the virtual and the real world. 

One of the most common AR applications is seen in the form of filters on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. These filters allow users to add fun and creative elements to their photos and videos. 

AR is also used in the IKEA app, which lets customers virtually place furniture in their home settings to see how it would look before making a purchase. 

In addition to AR glasses, companies like Magic Leap have developed AR headsets that are being used for training and simulation purposes, as well as in industries such as healthcare, engineering, and entertainment. 

Photo by Remy Augmento on Unsplash

What is Mixed Reality?

Mixed reality is the most debatable term which was introduced in a 1994 paper by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino to explore a virtuality continuum in which AR is defined as a subset of Mixed Reality (MR). It refers to when the user interacts with and manipulates both physical and virtual items and environments. Both Microsoft Hololens and Apple Vision Pro are being promoted as Mixed Reality devices. Meta Quest 3 also uses this term to expand its market share and effectively compete with Apple's Vision Pro. It was originally advertised as a VR headset, though.

Fig 2: Simplified representation of a RV Continuum [2]

Extended Reality and Art

It may be challenging to pinpoint when artists began incorporating extended reality (XR) into their art projects. XR art is a form of creative expression that uses technology to allow people to interact with computer-simulated elements or environments. The origins of these projects might be traced back to the early 1900s, with developments like Cineorama, a circular 360-degree cinema exhibited at the Paris Exhibition. 

As technology has advanced, XR has been utilized in art classes to teach art history using Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality. This marks the beginning of integrating XR into art education, as virtual museums have become learning tools in recent years. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, interactive art has been adopted by museums as a strategy to mitigate the impact of decreased admission fees due to limited visitation.

Additionally, museums benefit from the concerted efforts to engage visitors to push the traditional boundaries of a museum visit and make them more accessible for all people regardless of their physical limitations. An immersive learning environment to remake e.g. a historical place to interact with the past can be mesmerizing and memorable. 

Fig3. Eye of the Owl - Bosch VR [3]

There is a wide range of museums and art galleries in virtual reality or augmented reality for artworks in real art galleries artists and art curators are exploring how extended reality may enhance an art gallery visit in which the user can have a private visit to a virtual museum, interacting with artworks (to some extent depends on the project’s potentials) and see the artwork in detail from a very close point of view. Apart from those projects resembling a real art gallery, some projects dig into the artists’ or artwork’s world and go beyond a simple observation. 

The integration of art and XR has gone far in terms of live events like theatre, which is an immersive theatre and a social VR experience. 

Last but not least, art auctions are modernized by incorporating augmented reality and virtual reality into their art auctions, making these events more tech-oriented and accessible to participants.

What are the XRT studio stories about? 

The main focus of this newsletter is XR ART projects that are made in Canada and across the world. You might be an artist, developer, art educator, student, and art or tech enthusiast who would like to know more about how these projects work and their creators.

What would be next to read?

Stay tuned…Subscribe to this newsletter to get the new story in your email. 

PS: By the way, the name of the newsletter is pronounced X.ART, not X.R.T :)

References:

[1] Philipp A. Rauschnabel, Reto Felix, Chris Hinsch, Hamza Shahab, Florian Alt, What is XR? Towards a Framework for Augmented and Virtual Reality, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 133, 2022,107289, ISSN 0747-5632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107289.

[2] Milgram, Paul & Kishino, Fumio. (1994). A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays. IEICE Trans. Information Systems. vol. E77-D, no. 12. 1321-1329.

[3] VRX. 2016. Eye of the Owl - Bosch VR. Game [SteamOS]. https://store.steampowered.com/app/420020/Eye_of_the_Owl__Bosch_VR/ Last launched March 2024.