The Final Image: An Artwork and Techniques in Immersion

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2019The Final Image is a virtual reality (VR) artwork combining spherical stereoscopic images, interactive interludes, 3D soundscape, and voice-over narration. Viewers use a head-mounted display (HMD) and a hand-held controller to navigate 3D spaces and activate portals into immersive narrative vignettes. The piece takes the form of a cinematic visual-sonic poem about fragmented recollections of home, and an inner journey of reassembly and clarity. The project is regularly updated and publicly available on the internet where it can be downloaded and viewed using the appropriate virtual reality hardware. This document supports the production by describing a framework for narrative immersion in the artistic context. Works of art in cinema, painting, music, video installation, electronic games and literature are presented as influences for The Final Image, and in addition, media theory and philosophy lay a foundation for the phenomenological structure of immersion with both subjective and spatial dimensions. Discussions of artworks and concepts weave in the document and reflect the non-linear relationship of thought and practice present in The Final Image