3D Printing

VR Gets Real with 6-Ft-Tall 3D Printed Space Cockpit

Artist Micah Ganske has combined almost all of my favorite aesthetic tastes and modern technologies into a single project called the AVR Project. Launched at Art Market San Francisco, Ganske’s AVR Project is a VR flight simulator/cockpit sculpture that joins 3D printing, AR, VR, 70s space colony concepts, and a 90s pastel palette into a stunning “hybrid sculpture and virtual reality experience.”

3D printed AVR cockpit from micah ganske

For those interested in 3D printing: the over six-foot-tall cockpit was 3D printed in an astounding 75 days. The printing was performed using Ganske’s own Gigabot 3D printer, from re:3D, as well as printers from Stratasys’ Bold Machines. Then, Ganske had to spend several weeks just finishing the prints and assembling the mighty cockpit, which reflects the shape of the field of view, as seen through an Oculus Rift. And that’s just the beginning!

3D printed AVR project from micah ganske

For those interested in mixed reality, or reality computing: those interacting with Ganske’s sculpture are brought into a virtual world via an Oculus Rift headset. The 3D printed cockpit is, according to the artist, “transformed into a fully enclosed, glass EVA vehicle which transports them through a fully realized space habitat.” Viewers travel through outer space, populated by Ganske’s previous spacecraft sculptures.

Ganske describes the way in which he sees augmented reality and virtual reality playing off of one another with his virtual and physical cockpits:

Virtual Reality (closed, shut in virtual experiences), and Augmented Reality (digital enhancements laid over your real field of view), will have transformative effects on a variety of industries and I personally believe they’re the future of fine art. The technology for good Augmented Reality is not quite available for consumer adoption though, and one of the hurdles with Virtual Reality is that it detatches us completely from the real world and can be a bit disorienting since the experiences don’t ground you to a physical space. With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take VR and combine it with sculptural elements to give the experience an additional level of tactility. For lack of a better term, I’ve been referring to this as Augmented Virtual Reality. In the near future, as technology improves, it will be easier to create more immersive and interactive Augmented/VR experiences, but for the time being, I think this sort of Augmented Virtual Reality experience is an effective way to combine tactility with virtual spaces.

Designed with Unreal Engine, the AVR project will ultimately be available for Steam so that, even if you can’t make it to San Francisco, or Ganske’s home base in LA, you’ll be able to try it out at home – sans 3D printed cockpit.