Art / Work

TransMilenio in VR

First explorations in virtual reality and the crush of rush hour

Year: 2019–2020
Role: Author
Shown at: 12th Cinetoro Experimental Film Festival, Toro, Valle del Cauca (2019)
Tools: First explorations in VR, Quill, Unity, Oculus Rift
Links: Watch the trailer on YouTube

What it is

An immersive virtual reality experience that recreates the overwhelm, crowding and physical tension of rush hour on mass transit in Colombia (TransMilenio in Bogotá), placing the viewer at the scale and body height of a ten-year-old child. The work looks at spatial awareness and how the body perceives public space when the mass of passengers physically overpowers you.

First explorations in VR

The project was my first exploration with virtual reality tools:

Quill and Oculus Rift: real-time spatial drawing and sculpting to model, stroke by stroke, the packed bodies, faces and handrails of the articulated bus.
Unity: spatial assembly of the car with its tubular structure (SM_Transmi), lighting and built-in animation scripts (Quill Anim Component).

Process and exhibition

I started development in the first semester of 2019, as academic and experimental work at RecLab. The animation was taken further in 2020. The piece was shown to the public with an interactive headset at the 12th Cinetoro Experimental Film Festival (Toro, Valle del Cauca, November 2019).

Gallery

Official trailer for the virtual reality experience.

Passengers packed standing inside the bus holding the handrail at rush hour, 3D strokes in Quill — The crush and crowding of rush hour: spatial modeling and drawing in Quill.

Inside the articulated TransMilenio bus with red doors, windows and passengers seated and standing — Spatial layout of the TransMilenio car in Quill: red doors and where the passengers are.

Low viewpoint between the bodies and legs of passengers drawn in 3D strokes — A low viewpoint (the scale of a ten-year-old child) among packed legs and torsos.

Tubular structure and 3D model of the TransMilenio bus in Unity with a Quill animation script — 3D structure and assembly in Unity with the Quill animation component.

A child trying the experience with a VR headset and a laptop at the 12th Cinetoro Experimental Film Festival — Showing the experience with a VR headset at the 12th Cinetoro Experimental Film Festival (Toro, Valle del Cauca, November 2019).