Inside the Zetterberg Gallery itself are a selection of Jani’s physical art pieces. With vibrant colors that pop out from the otherwise entirely white walls, the pieces use his signature alphabet designs. Each letter, with uncanny corporate symbolism, seems to play on the subconscious triggers that ubiquitous brands have instilled in us throughout our lives. On a podium near the entrance sits a Varjo XR-3 mixed reality headset. After putting on the headset, visitors will enter a mixed reality experience. They can see the gallery exactly as before, except this time with photorealistic, virtual representations of the same alphabet designs hovering in front of them. They can then reach out and touch each individual letter, moving them, duplicating them, or making them disappear.
The combination of the photorealistic 3D assets rendered with the Unity engine, and the seamless human eye resolution provided by the XR-3, creates a completely immersive metaverse experience, grounded in reality. “It’s very confusing on purpose. For the audience, to have the virtual works right next to their physical works, it’s difficult to distinguish between them.” – Jani Leinonen
Sculpting the metaverse, in the metaverse
The Varjo XR-3, before providing such an evocative viewing experience, actually served as a tool for Jani to conceptualise and create the exhibitions’ NFTs. Working in a mixed reality scenario, he was able to sculpt digital 3D assets without the traditional boundaries of scale, or the time constraints of creating physical iterations. “Creatively it’s so much easier for me to start sculpting and doing paintings, and particularly 3D objects. It’s because I have this visual mind, it’s so hard sometimes on a screen that is flat to start pondering 3D dimensions.” – Jani Leinonen “What makes this particularly exciting, is that Jani Leinonen has used Varjo XR-3 to create and design how both his physical works and digital works merge and complement each other. And this exact experience is something that collectors will be able stepping into as well when they put their Varjo headset on”. – Jussi Makinen, Chief Brand Officer, Varjo
KEY INFORMATION
Zetterberg Gallery
Ludviginkatu 3 – 5 A
00130 Helsinki, FI
tel. +358 400449544
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