Missing VR: The Box

Will we ever be able to experience emotions and experiences that are typically felt only through face-to-face interactions in virtual reality? The unprecedented lockdown situation during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted me to seek an escape, and while studying theatrical performances, I conceived the idea that the same level of entertainment found in in-person interactions could be replicated in the virtual world.

With a growing conviction, I delved into exploring the gap between the virtual and the real. To bridge this gap, I integrated tactile elements in the VRChat environment, providing players with a sensory material experience.

Key Objectives:
-Building user-to-user interaction in VRChat metaverse environment
-Exploring the synergy of tactile elements and VR combinations
-Investigating the possibilities of telehaptics and making various movements of the avatars using Perception neurons (motion capture)

*My personal work ‘The Box’ has since developed into a research project that explores how touching tactile elements and using VRChat at the same time connect virtual and reality. *The VRChat used in this project is my professional work in company VRISVR, ‘Missing VR.’

The box is composed of various textures and materials. Temperature and texture varies. Even though the audiences wear VR glass so that they cannot see the sensory elements on the box, the color of the box was all processed in white so that the tactile elements could not be distinguished visually.

Texture:

A: A radial metal structure is attached, along with cameras for recording players.

B: Substances such as pebbles, scrubbers, sea creatures, and nets are attached to the top of the cube.

C,E: Pumice gel is dispersed in various concentrations.

D: A hemispherical 3D model is attached, with small holes in between.

Watching themselves recorded on the tablet, players can fully experience the work by feeling the gap between the image they imagined during the experience and how the reality is different. However, having the tablet seen through the hole suggests that the information recorded on the tablet is also not a perfect fact, but rather piece of information.