SPECIAL EVENTS | Virtual Reality: PIEdeck @ Animafest
Virtual Reality: PIEdeck @ Animafest
PIEdeck @ Animafest Zagreb
PIEdeck is an experimental interactive installation created for playful activities with multiple participants. Developed by the research group Playful Interactive Environments (PIE), it consists of a laser tracking system, public display and Virtual Reality headsets. Utilizing the Pharus tracking system developed by the Ars Electronica Futurelab, up to 25 participants can simultaneously interact with the system and each other in the same physical space. PIEdeck serves as an experimental environment to explore novel game concepts and other forms of co-located interaction in a hybrid-reality context, combining real physical movement with virtual content in a large-scale setting.
The PIEdeck system will be shown for the first time in a public venue at the Oktogon during the Animafest Zagreb. The PIEdeck prototype allows two Virtual Reality (VR) participants to walk through an immersive, abstract audiovisual world and interact with a dynamic, animated sculpture. Passersby also leave their own mark on the virtual world, creating traces behind them for the VR participants. The sculpture, traces and other virtual elements are all visible to spectators on a public screen.
Playful Interactive Environments (PIE)
Playful Interactive Environments is a research group founded by the Department of Digital Media at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, School of Informatics, Communication and Media in Hagenberg. The research group focuses on the investigation of new and natural playful forms of interaction and the use of playful mechanisms to encourage specific behavioral patterns. In cooperation with research partners in the fields of media psychology and usability, additional work is conducted regarding perception research of computer-generated characters and the design, implementation and evaluation of interactive environments. Typical research topics include large public displays, projection mapping, co-located games, serious games, gamification, audio reactive installations and non-linear narratives.