Virtual Reincarnation

The Sensorama was created by Morton Heilig's in the 1950's.

This machine was designed like an arcade cabinet where the viewer would sit in front of it and watch short films on the screen in front of him. The display was a colored stereoscopic 3D display to trick the eye and be more immersive. To further immersion the Sensorama also had fans, to create the feel of wind, smell generators, stereo-sound, as well as a vibrating chair.

The Sensorama had six experiences.

1.Motorcycle

2.Dune Buggy

3.Helicopter

4.Belly Dancer

5.A Date with Sabina

6.I’m a Coca Cola Bottle

My Virtual Reincarnation concept is to bring the other additional sensory elements the Sensorama had to a modern day VR experience using the HTC- Vive. I believe the way the Vive mask fits on the viewers face has a similar effect of the Sensorama cabinet in which it cuts off your vision of your other surroundings only offering you the image in front of you.

The person will be then put into an area that has been designed to mimic the scene that they will be viewing. The area will have fans, smell generators, atmosphere generators (such a mister), and a heating cooling system, as well as a few physical designs to reinforce the idea of an environment. The whole purpose is to see just how convincing and immersive the experiences can be.

For examples I will be showing an idea for a beach simulation and a night time field.

For both situations the user will be asked to remove their shoes for an optimal experience (this is optional) and then to put the headset on outside of the experience . The simulation will be dark and only fade in as they step into the room.

For the beach experience the area will be filled with deep sand the the users feet will sink into. It is hot like a true beach on a sunny day due to the large heat lamp that will be above them, giving the feel of strong sun. Fans will create a breeze that carries the sent of the ocean in it and also a slight refreshing mist. On the headset the users will see and hear a beach scene with a few interactive parts added in such as seagulls,crabs, and a beach ball.

The night time field experience will work in a similar way with a little hint of fantasy. Instead of sand the ground will be a soft soil with tall grass that in some spots might come up to a persons waist they they will move through. Misters and fog machines go off above you so the person can feel the moisture settling down onto them. The air will be cool and have scents of earth, grass, and rain. In the headset the user will see themselves in a moonlit field with grasses blowing in the breeze. With some added interactive elements like softly glowing flowers that close when they are touched and beautiful glowing moths.

The outside of both these pieces will be very sleek and modern in design, not having any elements that give away what the experience is inside. The domed tops however will glow, the beach one a warm yellow and the night time one a pale blue of a dull moon. I hope that peoples curiosity will be enough to draw them to these exhibits. All they will know before they go in is that they are relaxing experiences in nature.

I am always myself inspired by nature. When I go out into nature, especially in solitude, I get this feeling of wonder, amazement, and just how incredible life is. I feel like in our busy lives many people forget how good it feels sometimes to just be alive in the most natural of places, to be unplugged, to be alone, and to just admire how beautiful and magical our natural world really is. This experience is man made so it will never truly be able to capture the full power, but I hope it's enough to inspire people to maybe go and experience the "real thing" or to show why preserving out natural land and spaces, our planet, is one of the most important things.