IMMERSE Distinguished Lecture - Ruth West; Beyond the Headset: Social and Spatial Design for Public VR

Abstract:
INSTRUMENT | One Antarctic Night (IOAN) is an interactive multiplayer VR installation that transforms time-series astronomical data captured by the AST3 telescopes at Dome A, Antarctica — encompassing over 758 million data points from 817,373 astronomical objects — into an immersive instrument of light and sound and a collaboratively performed soundscape. It is an experiment in spatial and social design: how a VR experience can be structured so that the physical space it inhabits becomes part of the work itself and fosters a continuum of engagement. This talk presents the design principles behind IOAN as both an immersive data remix instrument and a "VR-in-the-round" architecture — a free-form, reconfigurable arena that reframes VR not as an individual experience, but as a live, visible, participatory performance. We explore a model of graduated engagement in which passersby, spectators, active participants, and potential remote visitors each occupy a distinct but connected relationship to each other and to the piece. As immersive technologies increasingly
become a part of public life, this continuum offers a framework for designing experiences that are legible and open to everyone in the space -- not only those wearing a headset.
IOAN Online: https://oneantarcticnight.com/

Bio: Ruth West is a transdisciplinary researcher, professor, and director of the xREZ Art + Science Lab at the University of North Texas. Her work sits at the intersection of big data and immersive technologies, creating aesthetically-impelled scientific inquiry and immersive XR experiences that are multi-modal, social, spatial, and collaborative. She has held affiliations with the UCSD National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, the UCLA Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, and Cedars-Sinai Health System. Her research has appeared in publications including SPIE/IS&T Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality, MIT Leonardo Journal, American Journal of Human Genetics, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the UCLA Fowler Museum, FILE São Paulo, SIGGRAPH, and WIRED Magazine's NextFest. Online: https://xrezlab.com/  & https://viewingspace.com/