Inviting participants to inhabit non-human forms, this VR experience explores embodied performativity through distinct animal locomotion systems and affordances.
‘Amber Dell’ is a VR experience exploring embodied performativity in virtual shared spaces. The experience invites participants to inhabit non-human forms within a shared, fantastical virtual environment.
Upon entering, visitors select from an array of non-human body types, each possessing distinct locomotion systems and affordances. The surreal landscape serves as a playground for exploration and interaction, challenging participants to navigate using unfamiliar physical paradigms.
This artwork functions as a tool for expanding neural plasticity, prompting users to adapt to novel modes of movement and perception. The social dimension is pivotal, as participants encounter others in their chosen forms, fostering unique non-verbal communication and collective discovery.
‘Amber Dell’ aims to provoke reflection on the nature of embodiment, consciousness, and the fluidity of self-perception in virtual realms. It is a step in the exploration of the potential of virtual reality as a medium for psychological and philosophical inquiry.
Technical Background
I have been interested in non-human avatars for a while, and I wanted to create an experience where you could choose from a wide set of non-human body types and explore their locomotion systems in an open virtual playground.
I am a fan of the VR game Gorilla Tag and the way its gameplay is physics based. In my view, there is a tedency in VR to minimize player agency and rely too much on simulated movements. So I wanted to create an array of locomotion systems that relied mostly on the physics engine and demanded players physical commitment. This entails the challenge of designing motion systems that feel alien to the human body but can still be performed by it, and even mastered. It requires a design that allows for a learning curve.
Another interesting challenge of this project was setting up motion for the animal rigs, which have only 3 control points (player head and hands) but more joints and bones. For this I used Unity's Animation Rigging tool to create procedural animations for the non-directly controlled limbs.
Finally, I decided to go with a low-poly aesthetic in order to be able to run a big enough map without needing to resort to asset streaming. I had to apply the usual optimizations for running Unity projects in mobile hardware: Occlusion Culling, LODs, Draw Call Batching, Object Pooling, etc.
