In-Betweenness
© 2023 Yebin Han
In-Betweenness is a VR installation that subverts traditional notions of cultural identity and encourages reflection on personal experiences of cultural hybridity. The virtual environment features culturally diverse buildings sourced from my travels. Artificial intelligence integrated into the installation generates new identities based on cultural input and reflects the diversity of cultures and experiences that exist in our world.
The AI technology incorporated into the piece generates new identities based on input from our own cultures. As viewers explore the virtual environment, they will notice changes in the textures of the buildings around them. These changes reflect the diversity of cultures and experiences that exist in our world.
Through In-Betweenness, I seek to challenge the dichotomies that exist in our society and promote empathy and understanding across cultural boundaries. By creating an interactive experience that encourages viewers to imagine new possibilities for themselves and the world around them, I hope to inspire dialogue about the importance of cultural diversity and inclusion.
In-Between Realities
3D scan technology to import "physical" objects from the "real world" into the virtual world
My intention is to share my own experiences with the audience and convey a message of cultural plurality that exists within me. While working on this project, I had the opportunity to travel to South Korea, my home country, as well as Europe, including Ireland, where I once lived. Throughout the entire process, I aimed to bring site-specific elements, such as iconic buildings, traffic lights, traffic signs in specific languages, etc., into my VR space. I incorporated 3D scan technology to import "physical" objects from the "real world" into my virtual world.
In-Between Textures
Artificial Intelligence generated textures based on the original texture image
I have rendered the original 3D scanned model in Blender into an image texture. And I used the Stable Diffusion plugin in Blender to generate textures based on the original texture image. I used prompts such as realistic, nostalgic, home, and specific names of the regions. I generated 30 different images per 3D model.
In-Between Garments
Korean traditional & Belle Époque costumes
The first step was to generate a new costume style by incorporating traditional costumes from Korea and Belle Époque using AI. I collected approximately 6,000 images of both Korean and Belle Époque style dresses from the open source. And with the data, I trained an AI model using RunwayML StyleGAN2.
From the new designs that were created by AI, I redesigned and incorporated physical Korean textures into 3D visualization.
In-Between Experience
Texture Crossfade & Interactivities
I designed multiple interactivities within the VR world, including texture crossfade. I Incorporated AI-generated images as the textures on 3D-scanned buildings to crossfade from one to the other. When the viewer’s gaze hit the object, they will explore the concept of perception in our society.
In-Between Experience
Gaze Teleportation
The major interactivity works with gaze in my project. I wanted to minimize the controllers that the user needs to use. In that way, the users can solely focus on the visuals and the experience itself. I used Vector Interpolate (Vinterp) to teleport the viewer wherever they see.
