museum of symmetry vr review

View Conference 2018: Museum of Symmetry review: one of the best creative VR experiences I’ve tried

by Skarredghost

During the talk of the National Film Board of Canada at View Conference 2018, the speakers Eloi Champagne and Martin Viau talked about one of the experiences they have developed, called Museum of Symmetry, that was like a cartoon in virtual reality. I haven’t given much credit to that experience, and in fact, I’ve just dedicated three lines to it in the related article. But two days later, I have had the occasion to try it, and I got completely astonished.

At View Conference, there was a little area dedicated to exhibitors and the first demos I tried were not thrilling at all: yeah, it was good exchanging business cards for my AR/VR consultancy agency, but I was not excited at all. My friends Francesco and Leandro continuously said that I should try Museum of Symmetry of the National Film Board of Canada, but there was always a long line to try it, because the experience was pretty long, and I had to watch the various talks and didn’t want to waste my time in the line. Furthermore, I’m used to VR and it’s difficult to astonish me, so I thought that they were just excited because it was something artistic in VR. The last day, since they insisted, I asked Eloi to book me a slot to try the experience and so I managed to try it without waiting in the line.

When my moment arrived, I put on the Samsung Odyssey and I started the experience. As I said, I was skeptical about it and the beginning was in line with my expectations: I was in a museum, with various “big pictures” exposed and there was nothing I could do, apart from moving in the room. I could not interact with anything: Eloi told me that no button on the controllers was usable. Not that interesting. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a “pssst” from one of those pictures and a cartoon figure invited me to follow him, and so I did.

At that point, an experience called “The Desert of The Dark” (that was the name of the picture I entered into”) started and I was in a dark desert, and I had to wander around looking for bright prisms, advised by the cartoon figure that made me enter there. This scene had amazing lighting because it was all dark and the only light was a lantern that I had in my hand and the light it cast was very interesting… but again, nothing special.

When I found all the three prisms, I was teleported in another picture: “The Cloud Forest”. And there the awesomeness started.

museum of symmetry vr review
The trip on the hot air balloon. Notice how the image is colorful (Image by National Film Board of Canada)

I was overwhelmed by bright colors. I found myself in… I don’t know how to define it… a trippy hot air balloon, with a strange girl that was using her phone. All around me was super-colorful and surreal. It was like being inside an acid trip, but strangely things were not disturbing, but very pleasant. That place had no match with the physical world and even if it was mostly made by 2D billboards (the girl was in 2D), the immersion effect was strangely convincing. I… I don’t know how to explain that: nothing had sense, but everything had sense: it was like living inside a cartoon, surrendering to its rules. I tried going to the edge of the hot air balloon and I got really the impression of being in the air. Using a racket that I found in my hand, I started throwing diamonds towards big bubbles containing 2D figures and this was fun. Then I went visiting a giant spider that talked to me and that imprisoned me inside its webs.

Then I went to “Gaia’s Garden”, where thanks to a watering can that was in my hand, I was able to make flowers grow. This let me make super-happy a couple of strange creatures that were trying to have a party. Their happiness was contagious. Even here, everything was 2D, but always facing me, so, for instance, the flowers were pleasant to be seen.

When I was teleported in another place to water flowers, what I did put in dispair another strange creature, and all the tears flooded the place, and I found myself underwater.

The last place, “Metatron’s Ocean”, let me fly underwater on a skate, swimming inside psychedelic forms.

museum of symmetry vr review
The final trip in the ocean. Very psychedelic (Image by National Film Board of Canada)

When the trip was over, I found again myself in the museum, and this time at the place of the original pictures, there were 3D elements with a sentence reminding what I just did. At this point, Eloi removed me the headset, and I was really really sad. I found myself in the dark real world and I really wanted more of that cartoon. It is rare that I try this strong sensation and this means that they really did something astonishing. But reading my description and watching the above pictures and GIFs, you can’t get why it is so intriguing. It is something that you have to try to understand it. No other way. Listening to the description, observing other people play and watching the video, I absolutely not get why this was special. Until I tried it and half-way I found myself thinking “I hope this will never end”.

I tried to think about why I loved it so much, and I found the following reasons:

  • The experience is full of colors and this contrasts a lot with the real world that is usually very grey and sad;
  • The cartoons are beautifully designed by the artist Paloma Dawkins;
  • It puts you in an unbelievable reality: it doesn’t try to teleport you in something that really exists. It instead puts you in something that is impossible in real life. It’s something new, original, that you can experience only there;
  • It’s different from most others VR experiences you have tried;
  • Every one of us has always wanted to live inside a cartoon when he/she was a child and this is exactly what this experience does;
  • The experience mostly features 2D elements visualized as billboards in the 3D space. These billboards always face you (as sunflowers) and then the positioning is made in such a smart way, that in the end, the 3D illusion is convincing. I mean, you know that all is 2D, but anyway it sounds like a credible 3D world;
  • The characters acknowledge you, they talk with you, they expect your actions and this increases a lot the sense of presence (this is something that Baobab studios has highlighted as well: give the viewer a role to increase his sense of presence);
  • There is very simple interactivity in every scene: and since you have to do something, you feel more part of the world;
  • You can take your time, there is no need to hurry. And there is not even a clear plot to follow, so you just stay there and relax;
  • The experiences are full of emotions: you see people get excited and people cry. So, you feel emotions as well.

    museum of symmetry vr review
    Watering the wrong flowers, I put this creature in despair. After that, drops of tears started falling towards me and soon I found myself underwater (Image by National Film Board of Canada)

In the end, Museum of Symmetry is something magical. It is an experience that makes you live in a colorful cartoon, that makes you part of that cartoon. And inside this cartoon, you just stay there, take your time and do some simple actions for the funny creatures that are there. You feel a little special and you return a bit being a child when you have always wanted to be part of a cartoon. I’ve read someone defining it “a massage for the mind” and I think that the definition is perfect: it is an evasion from the grey real world and all its rules. Just hit play and let your mind fantasize.

museum of symmetry vr review
Those flowers have eyes and are all dancing with me! (Image by National Film Board of Canada)

It is a unique experience and I think that it’s something that all VR enthusiasts have to try. If you have 15-20 minutes to relax yourself a bit and to try something really original in virtual reality, go to Steam or Viveport and download for free Museum of Symmetry. Thank me later 😉

(Header image by National Film Board of Canada)

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2 thoughts on “View Conference 2018: Museum of Symmetry review: one of the best creative VR experiences I’ve tried”

  1. can’t wait to try it – tomorrow maybe I’ll thank you for the second time (the first is now)

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