The Meadow

What is it?

The Meadow is a playable art installation that mixes virtual reality, set design, and costume design in an immersive, physical, tactile experience. It was designed by Professor Richard Lemarchand & myself as part of his research.

Using techniques from theater and installation art to help bridge the transition from consensual reality to the virtual world more gracefully and gradually than is usual, the piece uses “experiential” digital gameplay, environmental narrative, sound design, and gaze control to create an encounter between the player and the inhabitants of a colorful and mysterious meadow in a forest clearing. The piece is site-specific, and uses a sequence of nested and set-dressed tents to create thresholds across which the audience is guided. Sitting on the ground amid a designed tactile environment, the audience-player dons an Oculus DK2 headset, the final gateway to the world of wonder and fright that lies beyond...

What I love about it

I really enjoyed mixing installation art with VR. It’s amazing how creating a “bridge point” from the real world to virtual can help build an immersive experience. I also really enjoyed the “puppeting” aspects of the design, having a human controller specifically time events based on where the participant was (and was not looking). I think there’s a lot to explore in more live, participatory digital works. The Team and My role

Richard Lemarchand — Game Director

Martzi Campos — Creative Director

Julian Ceipek — Technical Director

Thomas Lu — software engineering, animation and game design

Christina Orcutt — art and game design

Aditya Sareen — project management, fabrication, audio design and game design

Jung-Ho Sohn — souvenir design and fabrication

Yiwen Dai — costume design and fabrication

Jiadi Atwood Deng - software engineering and fabrication

Adam Rudow - fabrication and transport management

Lishan Amde — software engineering, fabrication and game design

Chris Muriel — art.