Description
“Macro, Meso, Micro” is an exploration into the connection among the Meso space where we inhabit and occupy, and the wide Macro and Micro spaces that are invisible to us. Through a virtual journey, we navigate from the vast universe, a forest, an architectural space, as well as the microenvironment that is inside our bodies. The project attempts to visualize these unobvious connections using colorful particles in multiple patterns and to demonstrate through an interactive experience the idea that matter in different scales differs in appearance but at the same time has a consistent essence.
Process
I built upon a previous project from my Responsive Environment class. The project is originally meant to be a responsive installation with projectors and a custom-designed controller. I wanted to change this project into a virtual reality experience to build a more immersive and mesmerizing experience for the audience. However, I don’t have time to build and test it in VR on time for the presentation.
I used the pcx (point cloud importer/renderer for unity) plugin from keijiro which helps to visualize 3D point clouds model in PLY binary little-endian format. Installing the plugin is a pain in the ass because this plugin only supports Unity 2019.4 with a second scope registry or the point clouds won’t be rendered correctly. I spent a lot of time figuring out how it could work on the newest version of Unity.
I then convert the points backed into texture 2d objects that can be used as attribute maps in Visual Effects Graph. The inspiration and tutorial are from digital artist Yuma Yanagisawa. I could then add materials and textures to the particles. I tried my best to differentiate the VFX on different scenes, experimenting with different shapes, sizes, textures, and lifetimes.
I spent a lot of time refining the details such as the skybox, post-process volume, and music for each scene. I used CineMachine’s dolly track camera and a camera script that allows the players to look around the scene. I used a level changer script that changes the scene automatically with an easing in and out transition.
If I have more time, I would first refine the scene by making more adjustments to the post-process color and the movements of the cameras. I think the music could be better with spacial ambisonic audios and sound effects. Most importantly, I would build this in VR, which sounds challenging and scary