I tried to find out how many fans of Vincent Van Gogh and his works of art are there. It might be a question with an impossible answer. There is at least one – me, for sure. 😉 However, Van Gogh Museum from Amsterdam receives over 2 million visitors every year and the museum says it: “even to this day, Vincent van Gogh is a true inspiration for millions of people worldwide.“
Imagine these millions of people and then imagine the joy they would live to get immersed in the painted world of Van Gogh. For a real fan, his paintings are already immersive – one can fully feel the nights of Van Gogh’s world from Café Terrace at Night or from The Starry Night. But then… it can be more: to walk around the cafe, to walk looking up to the stars painted by Vincent, or to step in the fields with poppies.
For these fans that want more, there are already many options – starting from the immersive experience provided by the Van Gogh Museum, to VR experiences for some of his paintings, to the first oil painted movie – Loving Vincent. At the time of writing this article, in Brussels, you could ‘walk in’ one of the Van Gogh’s paintings in a multi-sensory experience that “allows visitors to fully immerse themselves in the swirls and patterns of the artist’s most celebrated works, whilst taking in the world as the Dutch master would have seen it through a cacophony of music, video and light shows.”
Curious on how Van Gogh’s paintings can be transformed into virtual realities for viewers? Borrowed Light Studios described their effort on the Unity Connect platform – “the first talent marketplace dedicated to Unity creators, to showcase their skills and work, and get discovered by talent seekers.”
The process involves imagination, which should be in accordance with the initial artist’s imagination, then sketching, modeling, specific visual principles or pillars, different special apps – for modeling, sculpting, painting, and a lot of determination, perseverance and patience:
“The main difference between painting the objects and painting a canvas is the sheer amount of surface that needs to be covered. Instead of only painting the side that appears to the camera (or eyeball) you have to paint the back of it and the top of it, and every angle that could be seen by someone walking around it.”
Use the Unity Connect platform to read more about Bringing a Van Gogh Painting to VR, but also about other projects developed with Unity Technology by immersive creators.
