naimark

Two immersive virtual environments produced as art installations investigate “sense of place” in different but complimentary ways. One is a stereoscopic moviemap, the other a stereoscopic panorama.

Moviemaps are interactive systems which allow “travel” along
pre-recorded routes with some control over speed and direction. Panoramas are 360 degree visual representations dating back to the late 18th century but which have recently
experienced renewed interest due to “virtual reality” systems. Moviemaps allow “moving around” while panoramas allow “looking around,” but to date there has been little or no
attempt to produce either in stereo from camera-based material.

“Immersion” in the context of media and virtual environments, is often defined as the feeling of “presence” or “being there,” of being “inside” rather than “outside looking in.”

Moviemaps
Moviemaps allow virtual travel through pre-recorded spaces. Routes are pre-determined and filmed with a stop-frame camera triggered by distance rather than by time.

“Moving Movies”
In 1977, the author began investigating what happens when a projected motion picture
image physically moves the same way as the original camera movement. If the angular movement of the projector equals the angular movement of the camera, and if the FOVs are
equal, spatial correspondence is maintained, and the result appears as natural as looking around a dark space with a flashlight.