Supersymmetry (Oculus Quest 2)

 

   Presented VR project is an interpretation of the competition artwork (International Competition for Intermedia Artwork - Cracow 2018) of a classic interactive installation.

www.icia.pl/2018

It was presented to the public as part of the ICIA post-competition exhibition.

www.icia.pl/winning-works-exhibition

  The title refers to one of the models of particle physics. According to this model, the particles discovered within the Standard Model may additionally be accompanied, as if reflected in a curved mirror, by "super partners" with different properties. This is the mathematical model on the basis of which the search for new Dark Matter elementary particles is undertaken experimentally. However, in a broader sense, the project is a variation on quantum physics.

  The participant in this simple VR game has four "superpartners" located on the sides of a square. The superpartners behave as if they were mirror clones of our character, but with additional, to the experience of a real mirror, axes of reflection symmetry. In the coordinate system, their position is opposite to that of the player outside the only equilibrium point distinguished by zero.

  The vertical axis (floor and ceiling) presents my visual variation on two mathematical interpretations of the quantum behavior of a particle of matter, namely the "Copenhagen Interpretation" and the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation.

  The ceiling image is an area where, with varying probability, a ball appears as a clone of the player's head. The probability of drawing the ball in a particular position of this area is related to the probability density of the particle's appearance in the in-determined quantum world. The player's movement visually keeps the ball in a state that relates to quantum superposition.

  On the other hand, I associated the movement of the particle determined by Bohm's "pilot wave" with the image of a footprint detached from a player walking on the floor in such a way that one can be under the illusion that the reflections of the feet move from the future into the present, and after crossing the axis of symmetry into the past. Thus, I extended the "non-local" nature of this interpretation from space to time, i.e. a cause-and-effect relationship.

  The player's task is to find a way to teleport between two locations.

  I wanted to keep the feeling of the real in space in VR space while moving around. That's why I gave up on hand controllers.

  A space boundary with a minimum size of 5 meters by 5 meters is required.

  This VR miniature is not a commercial product intended for entertainment, but rather an artwork intended for people interested in games as the latest form of art.

  I hope that about 10 minutes of supersymmetry in VR, at the intersection of art and science, will creatively stimulate your senses and your mind.