A virtual visit to the studios of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner

Role: Technical Director / Unity Developer

Tracing Paint allows visitors to explore the studio where Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner created some of their most important paintings, and to see those works in the spaces where they were originally made.

Created for the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center by MediaCombo, the VR experience reconstructs the artists’ studio at two points in its history. Visitors can explore the space at their own pace, examine paintings and objects, and hear the artists discuss their work and creative processes.

I was responsible for the Unity architecture and development, integrating the 3D environments, artwork, audio and scripted narrative into the interactive VR experience. I developed the initial approach to navigation and interaction, while Lisa Lokshina led the experience design of the final production.

A significant technical challenge was optimising the detailed environments and artwork for standalone VR headsets while maintaining visual quality. I also designed and implemented the captioning system, using speaker identification and colour coding, and subsequently extended it to support two Chinese translations. Besides the Quest 2 build and AppLab deployment, I also ported the experience to the HTC Vive Focus headset and Viveport store.

Tracing Paint won Best VR at the 2022 New Media Film Festival and is available to visitors at the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center and through VR app stores.

More info on the MediaCombo site: https://www.mediacombo.net/case-study/pollock-krasner-studio-virtual-reality