Converted entry by Mateusz Sum

My initial idea was the concept of democratized access to sophisticated tools, both hardware and software, which could be easily shared in an open, collaborative workspace by creatives. I thought it matched the main theme rather nicely as one of many examples of how disrupted modern lives are, stuck in a perpetual loop of constant fluctuations, changes and conversions. While I was mainly looking at the context of art and creativity, several associations with industrial revolutions came to mind right away, hence, for the background of the scene I picked an old industrial building, typical for a 19th and 20th century warehouse, factory or foundry. I then filled the space with arrays of little customizable offices and workshops, with robotic arms augmenting artists’ tool- and skill-sets. Such a setup was then fueled with the most valuable resources of current and future times – data. That’s how the data crunching clusters were introduced in the middle of the foundry, as a beating heart that keeps everything in motion. Then, as a juxtaposition and balance to the information cloud packaged in the silicon, I put another totem of power, more tangible, probably more powerful too – a giant old tree, dead in fact and yet still dominant, hovering over modest lounge garden, almost residual. Finally I decided that in this version of the future nature had to be reconstructed and revitalized, rebuilt bit by bit in a chain of biome dioramas which would then return to the original environment and convert it back it its primal state.

For the final output I decided to utilize all the potential of real time graphics, specifically in Unreal Engine 4. I produced a set of still images, an animation, a walkthrough video and a real time experience. Images are presented right below and the remaining content is accessible via provided links. I hope you will all enjoy it.

Animation:

Walkthrough:

Application:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10pvYC09lP2_LtPuTrb5AJlI5RxkOtDSe/view?usp=sharing

DISCLAIMER:
This project was design with Realtime Ray Tracing in mind, therefore a suitable GPU is required to experience it properly. Also, it is strongly recommended to use Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0, which implies using some of the latest Nvidia drivers. It is, however, possible to explore the project without RTX goodness, although the experience will be of lower fidelity and most likely with very low frame rate.
I would suggest sticking to resolutions around 1080p with DLSS set to Quality or 1440p and DLSS set to Performance. If you would like to try it in 4K – definitely go with the ultra DLSS settings.
Expected framerate should be around 30-60 fps.

entry by Mateusz Sum

My initial idea was the concept of democratized access to sophisticated tools, both hardware and software, which could be easily shared in an open, collaborative workspace by creatives. I thought it matched the main theme rather nicely as one of many examples of how disrupted modern lives are, stuck in a perpetual loop of constant fluctuations, changes and conversions. While I was mainly looking at the context of art and creativity, several associations with industrial revolutions came to mind right away, hence, for the background of the scene I picked an old industrial building, typical for a 19th and 20th century warehouse, factory or foundry. I then filled the space with arrays of little customizable offices and workshops, with robotic arms augmenting artists’ tool- and skill-sets. Such a setup was then fueled with the most valuable resources of current and future times – data. That’s how the data crunching clusters were introduced in the middle of the foundry, as a beating heart that keeps everything in motion. Then, as a juxtaposition and balance to the information cloud packaged in the silicon, I put another totem of power, more tangible, probably more powerful too – a giant old tree, dead in fact and yet still dominant, hovering over modest lounge garden, almost residual. Finally I decided that in this version of the future nature had to be reconstructed and revitalized, rebuilt bit by bit in a chain of biome dioramas which would then return to the original environment and convert it back it its primal state.

For the final output I decided to utilize all the potential of real time graphics, specifically in Unreal Engine 4. I produced a set of still images, an animation, a walk-through video and a real time experience. Images are presented right below and the remaining content is accessible via provided links. I hope you will all enjoy it.

Animation:

Walk-through:

Application:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10pvYC09lP2_LtPuTrb5AJlI5RxkOtDSe/view?usp=sharing

DISCLAIMER:
This project was designed with Realtime Ray Tracing in mind, therefore suitable GPU is required to experience it properly. Also, it is strongly recommended to use Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0, which implies using some of the latest Nvidia drivers. It is possible to explore this project without RTX goodness, although the experience will be of lower fidelity and most likely with very low frame rate.
Personally I would suggest sticking to resolutions around 1080p with DLSS set to Quality or 1440p and DLSS set to Performance. If you would like to try it in 4K – definitely go with the Ultra DLSS settings.
Expected framerate should be around 30-60 fps.

Converted entry by Mateusz Sum

Hi all !

“technological advancements […] adoption by content creators […] re-evaluation.” I’m going to focus on that part of the brief. Some key words are coming to my mind quickly, a blur, a cacophony of ideas; creating and manufacturing, forging, production, mass production, automation, computing, data, big data, very big data, and then even bigger data, networks and webs, converting and converging, adoption and adaptation, manual, automated, globalized but isolated, shared or owned, monopolized, democratized and decentralized, free or subscription based 😉

Here I am trying to uncover spatial relationships between past, current and future industrial trends, often catalyzed by or bundled into “revolutions”. Especially in the context of generating art, creativity, collaboration and how we, as a collective, use and occupy physical space to perform all those endeavors.

I’m not working with any existing site, as I’m mainly focusing on the meaning of this space and what it may (or may not 😉) convey.

As for technical aspects, in case anybody’s wondering – I am using Unreal Engine + Houdini combo because they love each other and I love them too. Just as much as Substance Suite. RTX is ON, because why not, and so is DLSS, because it’s there and you should use it as well. I think I’m going to stick to CPU lightmass as it gives me better results than GPU lm, at least for now. I am aiming for weekly updates but we will see how it goes, things can get iffy and hairy in UE pretty quickly lol xD

Getting right into it with something between concept ideas and WIP images already:

CABINS entry by Mateusz Sum

Good news everyone! I have finally managed to connect my Unit to a new stable power source so that my XR projections don’t flicker that much anymore. Well, at least not that often as they used to.
Also, last week I found some old stylized HMD that looks very similar to one of those first VR googles from the early 2020s or so. Was it called Wive? Or Vive or something like that? Anyways, the good part is that this display is still compatible with my XR system, despite the vintage design. I guess it must have been some gentle strike of nostalgia that inspired another product designer. Or maybe it’s just a random pick of the manufacturing AI. Who knows?
Sadly, I guess the end is here and now. That’s it. I’ll leave a link to some of my XR views below. Maybe some of you can still check it out, even though it lives in this old-school thing called “the internet” (I know! Hard to believe it is still working). Give it a go: https://www.yulio.com/jL0qT1WWBO
Well, till next time then! On another platform, on another rooftop…

CABINS entry by Mateusz Sum

Last night a friend of mine visited me in my XR space on the rooftop. We watched Blade Runner 2049 again…
I still remember the very first time I saw it, nearly 60 years ago. I recall us leaving the cinema silently, contemplating the beautiful imagery and trying to collect our jaws from the floor.
Little did we know back then that it was almost like a documentary from the future, not just some edgy si-fi blockbuster. Little did we know it would be much worse…

CABINS entry by Mateusz Sum

Last night a friend of mine visited me in my XR space on the rooftop. We watched again…
I still remember the very first time I saw it, nearly 60 years ago. I recall us leaving the cinema silently, contemplating the beautiful imagery and trying to collect our jaws from the floor.
Little did we know back then that it was almost like a documentary from the future, not just some edgy si-fi blockbuster. Little did we know it would be much worse…