> Escher provides the sense of -space- and the sense of complicity and motion
> bundled into one which make him a truly exciting prospect for VR work.
> Mind you: I'm not even sure it's -possible- to construct an Escher space
> in VR, but when thinking about designing worlds, his worlds always
> represent a certain ideal. You take one look and you know that you will
> never be able to fully comprehend what they are, or where they are.
Except for the repetive patterns (mostly in his woodcuts), all of Escher's
work is perspective drawing. Maybe the easiest way to introduce VR is to
make a number of formerly 2D realistic drawings into 3D spaces. That way,
you could walk around behind some of the elements on the scene and see
what was previously hidden.
The problem with some of Escher's works, however, is that he takes
advantage of the inaccuracies deliberately introduced into a 2D
representation while converting from 3D. Such drawings result in
impossible buildings, and endless climbing staircases. If these are
converted back to 3D, the effect would be lost once the viewer moves away
from the original point of view.
Some of his most famous drawings are "3D possible", and would be very
interesting. Spaces that have doorways and staircases set in walls and
ceilings are an example. All Escher did there was to use perspective to
build the illusion of reality, then then he tore it away again by
removing the common plane of reference. He took away the horizon, and
gravity. Both of those can be done away with in VR, as well, leaving just
the surreal image of people climbing opposite surfaces of the same set of
stairs.
--- Andrew C. Esh mailto:andrew_esh@cnt.com Computer Network Technology andrewes@mtn.org (finger for PGP key) 6500 Wedgwood Road 612.550.8000 (main) Maple Grove MN 55311 612.550.8229 (direct) <A HREF="http://www.mtn.org/~andrewes">ACE Home Page</A>