Virtual Spatial Systems

Virtual Reality is not a hype that will pass, but a technology that will change our lives – at home and also at work.

Especially for designers and artists the new medium brings new possibilities that allow the experience of content in a spatial system, but also to be used as a design tool in itself.

Since 2016, I have extensively investigated these possibilities. Under the title “Virtual Spatial Systems”, different formats have been used to explore, test and discuss these possibilities. These include lectures on backgrounds and connections, such as my lecture “The History of Immersion – From the Stage to the Virtual Reality” or lectures by invited guests; such as the lecture “Parallels between psychedelic experiences and virtual reality” by Dr. Bryan Duggan from the Dublin Institute of Technology, or the Round table talk with the media theorist Geert Lovink.

In addition to these workshops, lectures and seminars on the fundamental analysis of the design of virtual spatial systems, I exchanged and collaborated with external partners and experts on future developments and applications. The ideaof the “mixed reality sandbox” – a VR environment for the dialogical planning of complex mixed reality applications – was created together with Felix Brennecke. A prototypical version of this software was presented in May 2017 by myself and Felix Brennecke at the “Culture and Computer Science” conference at the Bodemuseum Berlin. The results were published in the book “Culture and Informatics: Mixed Reality”.

In addition to my own research and projects, I also gather a wide range of articles
and links on virtual space systems on my blog: www.virtualspatialsystems.com

Pablo Dornhege
University of Arts Berlin