I approached my first experience with Virtual Reality with some trepidation. As someone who suffers from motion sickness I had heard horror stories about how it can make you feel ill. The reason for risking the possibility of losing my lunch was to try Gravity Sketch. Having seen online videos of car designers and stylists using this software I really wanted to give it a try.
So, with emergency bucket close at hand I fitted the Oculus Quest 2 goggles and took hold of the Hand controllers. My first surprise was how easy it was to set up, although next time I will make the active working area larger. I found it very easy to move outside this area which means you lose your working environment until your back into your working space.
Once the setup is complete you’re transported into a working environment of a painted white warehouse (think converted London loft without any furniture). Without a plan I just started drawing and making marks.
My first impression was how easy it was to move around the environment and manipulate and rotate the drawing you are creating. The actual drawing was very intuitive as the floating controllers you see follow your arm movement. This made it feel very quick to create shape and form which you then work up into a more constrained shape.
One of the only negatives I’ve found so far is that it is easy to forget you are in an office or studio. I realised this after I stumbled into my office chair and then the desk. The second negative was the howls of laughter from my colleagues. As I’m happily sketching away in the air, they see me making wild gestures akin to trying to swot an invisible fly (apparently there is a video somewhere…) So, if your self-conscious in any way you might want to find a quiet private space before embarking on the using this new technology.
In conclusion, I can see a real advantage to using this software where you are having to package larger components for bigger products. The free-flowing nature of “sketching in air” allows for really interesting shape and form creation beyond sitting at a desk with a pencil or a tablet sketching. And the emergency bucket...well let’s just say it wasn’t required although it might be a close-run thing with continual use!
Author - Chris Whittaker - Designer at the Design Unit at De Montfort University