Friday, 22 November 2024

Immersive Tech Breakfast -- at UNM ARTS Lab

I went to a breakfast gathering-- Immersive Tech Breakfast --  at the UNM ARTS Lab on November 22, 2024, to check out all the fancy digital art toys they have:




"Calling all AR/VR innovators in New Mexico! Join us at UNM’s ARTSLab on Friday, November 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for the Immersive Tech Breakfast, a unique opportunity to connect with industry leaders, educators, and creatives shaping the future of immersive technology. Explore exciting initiatives like the new Community Immersive Technology Hub, see a live demo of the cutting-edge Varjo XR-4 Headset by Reynaldo Zabala from Channel XR, and share your input on upcoming free training opportunities for 2025."


UNM ARTS LAB

UNM ARTS Lab


VARJO XR-4

The main feature was the high end and expensive Varjo XR-4 Headsets that Reynaldo Zabala was showing off for Channel XR:

A snapshot of the event


Varjo XR-4 Headset

Reynaldo said that these high end VR headsets cost thousands of dollars. Note they also are attached to a big cord.  I asked if one could sculpture digitally with them, and he said that anything that would run on STEAM would run on his headsets.  However he also added that this would be overkill as one could do the same thing with a less expensive PICO.
 
The big screen (with me in it)
showed you what the person wearing the headset
was looking at

HoloLens

Someone from the UNM Artemis project was showing off the HoloLens, where one could see the landscape of Mars in 3D Augmented Reality:

The HoloLens


What the HoloLens sees...
the landscape of Mars


HoloLens docking stations

BIG REP ONE

The ARTS Lab has a huge BIG REP ONE 3D printer:
 
BIG REP ONE 3D printer


Big lobo 3D print

The Artec Leo 3D scanner only takes minutes to do a 3D scan:

Artec Leo 3D scanner


Digital weaving machine



CNM FUSE

Afterwards I checked out the CNM FUSE makerspace down the street:

CNM FUSE makerspace

They had three Epilog laser cutters:






They also had a large AP LAZER:

AP LAZER

One can become a member at FUSE for as little as $25 a week.  It costs an additional $109 to get certified on the laser cutter.  I can use their laser cutter until Quelab reopens.


NOTE:  UNM is building a new Fine Arts facility, and CNM is building a new makerspace.  So that both of these facilities will be moving in about two years.



KUNM asserts that UNM was a pioneer in computer art:

In the late 1960s, the University of New Mexico played a key role in bringing together creativity and technology in what was then the nascent field of computer art. Now a new book from Museum of New Mexico Press offers the first in depth account of this early digital creativity -- “Sharing Code: Art1, Frederick Hammersley, and the Dawn of Computer Art.”

    • Note that Richard Williams designed the computer code, and he used to draw with us. 


My interest is in still pushing a digital 3D file as far as I can.  I would love access to the ARTS Lab 3D scanner, though there are phone apps that do an acceptable 3D scan job these days.  And of course it would be fun to print something on the large 3D printer at the ARTS Lab, but where would I store the result?

I would also love to continue building a VR environment with my artwork, like I did in Spatial.io.

Spatial 3D Maya Gallery online


    However I can still push 3D objects in low rent Augmented Reality experiences with WebAR:

    ALIEN JAVELINA
    in WebAR

    Luma AI Genie
    The Alien Javelina jumped onto the stage
    at FUSION and hammed it up


    I still want to create real world sculptures that one can control with their smart phones:

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