Kilograph brings Michael Graves’ unrealized architectural designs to life in VR.
Available now via Kilograph.com, Imagined Landscapes is an interactive VR experience that allows you to explore and contribute to a 3D recreation of Barranco de Veneguera, a proposed 3.5-mile resort located in the Canary Islands designed by legendary designer and illustrator Michael Graves.
During the conceptualization of the resort, Michael Graves & Associates produced a series of hand-drawn watercolor renditions of the proposed design, including golf courses, hotels, beach clubs, and a variety of other structures blending seamlessly into the locations unique landscape. Despite these impressive designs, however, plans for the resort were eventually shelved.
Imagined Landscapes allows users, for the first time, to not only explore the vast 12,000-person complex, but actually contribute to Graves’ work in VR using digital watercolors. Using an Oculus Rift/Rift S VR headset in combination with Leap Motion’s hand-tracking technology, you can teleport throughout different areas of the resort and use your own two hands to add color to interactive outlines of various buildings.
By holding up your hand and pinching your thumb and index finger together, you’ll activate a VR watercolor tool; from there, simply move your hand up and down to fill in the missing portions of the marina, waterfront, town center, and numerous other areas.
“Photorealism is great, but it’s not the only way,” said Keely Colcleugh, Kilograph co-founder and CEO, in an official release. “Architecture is filled with works that speak to people on an impressionistic level. ‘Imagined Landscapes’ was our attempt to bring this idea into VR, turning an illustrated past into a novel way for someone to engage with a design.”
“Our brains expect certain things as we navigate the world,” added Runze Zhang, VR designer at Kilograph. “The more you let people use their hands, the more connected they’ll feel to the world around them. ‘Imagined Landscapes’ was a masterclass in VR navigation. We look forward to helping our clients work these techniques into future designs.”
As previously stated, Imagined Landscapes is available free on the official Kilograph website. At-home users will need an Oculus Rift/Rift S headset and Leap Motion tracker in order to participate. The experience will also be receiving a public premiere on October 2nd at Woodbury University’s WUHO Gallery.
Feature Image Credit: Kilograph
