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This Thought-Provoking VR Experience Lets You Swap Genders

August 3, 2023 From vrscout

The award-winning immersive experience gives you a safe space to explore gender.

Body of Mine is a 15-minute VR experience that simulates body dysphoria by allowing you to step into the body of another gender. Facial, eye, and body tracking, allow you to unlock real-life interviews with individuals who are transgender. The project aims to provoke introspection and open up discussions about gender identity and the experiences of transgender individuals all around the world.

Cameron Kostopoulos, the project’s lead designer, said that the primary goal of the project is to help people explore their gender and think critically about it. “We really want this to be a way for people to get a headset and explore their own gender and think more critically and deeply about what gender is.”

Credit: Cameron Kostopoulos

Body of Mine debuted during SXSW 2023 where it won a Special Jury Award in the XR Experience Competition, with organizers calling it a beautifully-crafted VR experience that effectively demonstrates how VR technology can provide a safe space for understanding, reflection, and connection when a safe space in the real world is hard to find.

Along with SXSW, Body of Mine has won numerous other awards thanks to its powerful message. “We want to take it to the areas around the world that have a lot of transphobias and have people who could empathize more and don’t have the opportunity to understand trans issues,” added Kostopoulos.



During a demo for Axios in NYC, Kostopoulos talked about the various individuals who are in the closet and struggling with their identities. He said that he helped a trans girl try the Body of Mine prototype during the festival, and he also let her mother, who kept referring to her daughter as “son,” try the experience. The VR experience left the mother silent, according to Kostopoulos.

Through immersive videos and VR, people can gain a deeper understanding of what it’s like to be in a certain body or setting. Jeremy Bailenson, who is a founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab and studies the psychology of virtual and augmented reality (AR), and, in particular, how virtual experiences lead to changes in perceptions of self and others, talks about this in his book Experience on Demand. It’s these types of experiences that can help people connect with marginalized groups.

Credit: Cameron Kostopoulos

Kostopoulos, who is gay, said that he came up with the idea for the project after he was outed by someone. He said that he was thinking about how VR could be used to create safe spaces. The goal was to create a piece that would tell the stories of his trans friends, as well as help others.

To ensure privacy, screenings for the demo are done in private rooms; Kostopoulos says that anonymity is a crucial aspect of the experience in order to keep people protected and safe.

Ultimately, he is hopeful that Body of Mine can have a positive impact.

He claims that Body of Mine doesn’t show people changing their minds immediately. Instead, it allows people to connect with stories that they might not normally relate to. The next step for the project is to continue refining it before releasing it for free on VR platforms that support body tracking.

Credit: Cameron Kostopoulos

“Rarely you’re going to see someone with a change of heart right on the spot,” he says. But “you’re relating to stories in a way that you don’t normally and that at least plants a seed.”

Up next for Kostopoulos is a VR app called A Cure for Straightness that will use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to train a virtual therapist that attempts to convince straight people to become gay. He says that this will be used to debunk the idea of conversion therapy.

You can learn more about Body of Mine by clicking here. Read more about Cameron Kostopoulo and connect with him on his LinkedIn page. If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area, you can schedule a private screening of Body of Mine here.

Feature Image Credit: Cameron Kostopoulos

Filed Under: News, pc vr, VR Art, VR Games

Experience What It’s Like To Die In This VR Simulation

March 28, 2023 From vrscout

Catch a glimpse of the other side with this immersive art installation.

What happens after you die? It’s a question as old as time and one that artist Shaun Gladwell is committed to answering. This week the Australian-based creative debuted an immersive art piece at the Melbourne Now event that’s designed to simulate what it’s like to pass on to the other side.

Described as an “out of body” interactive experience on the official website, Passing Electrical Storms guides users through a virtual recreation of the dying process, from cardiac arrest all the way to brain death.

One TikTok user in attendance at Melbourne Now, croom12, documented their experience, which included VR, a vibrating hospital bed, and a one-way trip into space. Attendees were apparently hooked up to heart rate monitors and instructed to raise their hands if they were too stressed by the experience and wished to quit.

“It was really cool, as you put on the goggles you see yourself laying on the bed from above so it really changed the experience from just the traditional VR as you are able to step outside of yourself from a different perspective,” said croom12 according to The New York Post.

“It does make you contemplate what happens after death, it also gives you a sense of the scale of both universes within and outside of our bodies,” they added. “If anything it makes you marvel at the possibility of life in the first place.”

Shaun Gladwell’s Passing Electrical Storms is open to the public now at the Melbourne Now event until August 10th, 2023. For more information visit here.

Feature Image Credit: Shaun Gladwell, BADFAITH and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne

Filed Under: News, VR Art

This Mixed Reality Meal Combines Food And VR

December 5, 2022 From vrscout

A delicious meal that pairs beautifully with immersive technology.

This past week, Italian artist Mattia Casalegno debuted his latest thought-provoking installation, Aerobanquets RMX, at Miami Art Week in Miami, Florida. The multisensory experience combined VR technology with delicious food to deliver a mixed reality meal quite unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Inspired by F. T. Marinetti’s The Futurist Cookbook, a collection of fictional recipes from the future, the installation supported up to 16 guests at a time, each of whom donned a Meta Quest 2 VR headset equipped with an external hand-tracker. Throughout the unique gastronomy experience, guests dined on five to seven dishes prepared by Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning chef Chintan Pandya.

Guests could choose from two menus: regular and vegan. As they ate, the textures and flavors of each dish were rendered in VR. The experience also featured text brought to life by narration from Top Chef judge Gail Simmons.

“We currently live in a world where industrial farming, overfishing, chemical pollution, and soil degradation are jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions by depleting the environment,” said Casalegno on his website. “We live in a culture where speed and economics come before health and quality. With this work I want to put a spotlight on our endangering practices and at the same time relish the joy of eating.”

As you can see in the video provided, Casalegno developed a custom accessory that turns Meta’s Touch controllers into futuristic dishware. This was most likely done to provide a simple and convenient way for guests to track the location of their meals in VR. That said, the final product looks incredibly cool.

For more information about Aerobanquets RMX visit here.

Image Credit: Flavor Five Studio

Filed Under: Food, meta quest 2, Mixed Reality, News, VR Art

Light Delights Is An Extra Trippy Mixed Reality App

November 30, 2022 From vrscout

Interact with a variety of eye-catching virtual objects with your own two hands.

Light Delights is a simple, yet surprisingly captivating mixed reality experience that turns your real-world space into a vaporwave art gallery. Available now on Quest 2 and Quest Pro VR headsets, the free app features a variety of unique multicolored pieces.

There are five virtual objects in which to inspect, each of which features its own unique interactions. This includes everything from physics-driven gyroscopic rings to a never-ending avalanche of virtual cubes and orbs. The app also features support for hand-tracking, allowing you to interact with virtual objects using your own two hands.

“The standalone color passthrough is IMO the most promising direction for MR,” said Greg Madison, the award-winning XR interaction designer behind the project. “I tested for fun some ideas over the weekend, the magic is there and it’s mesmerizing to play with.”

Light Delights is available for free on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro. Simply download the APK via GitHub and install the file on your headset using a program such as SideQuest.

While the Quest 2 version is cool, we highly recommend trying the app out on a Quest Pro for the best experience possible.

Image Credit: Greg Madison

Filed Under: meta quest 2, meta quest pro, Mixed Reality, News, VR Art, VR Games

Multiplayer VR Drawing App ‘Gesture VR’ Aims to Make You a Better Artist in Real Life

November 9, 2022 From roadtovr

Gesture VR is an upcoming VR drawing program that aims to give you the same experience as taking a Life Drawing course, which its creators say will help artists sharpen their skill and translate what they’ve learned back into physical work.

Nick Ladd is an artist with a background in illustration and 3D animation, however recently Ladd has flexed his creative muscles in VR with the help of creation tool Quill, having used it to create art for VR experiences such as Namoo and Tales from Soda Island.

Now, along with two artist colleagues, the Canada-based indie is set to release Gesture VR, an app that focuses on intuitive drawing tools and photogrammetry scans of actual models.

Image courtesy Nick Ladd Art & Animation

Ladd says Gesture VR aims to simulate the experience of being in a Life Drawing studio, giving artists 120 unique photogrammetry scans of nude models, which they can rotate and light. Yes, a censor option is available too if you’re a bit bashful.

Gesture VR, primarily a drawing-focused program, includes a versatile pen tool that lets you draw in both 2D on paper or in 3D. Once you’re done with your drawing session, users can export and share sketches—although if you’re looking for a more social drawing experience, up to four players can connect and sketch together in the same space.

Ladd hopes Gesture VR can bridge the gap for art students looking to get life drawing practice in:

“As a former art student, I know how important life drawing classes can be to improving your drawing skills, but many places don’t have access to good resources, and the price can get expensive for students,” said Ladd. “I made Gesture VR to level that playing field and help sharpen skills that will translate back into physical work.”

Gesture VR is slated to launch on SteamVR headsets and Meta Quest via App Lab for $14, releasing on December 6th, 2022. Check out the trailer below:

Filed Under: News, nick ladd, VR Art, vr art app, vr art program, vr drawing, vr drawing app

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