Field of View

State Library of NSW

Interactive 3D & VR Experience

Black-and-white digital reconstruction of a library interior with a portrait suspended in the centre

Field of View is the result of a research fellowship undertaken at the DX Lab, the State Library of NSW’s digital innovation lab. The experimental interactive work sets historic photography within a LiDAR scan of the environment where the photographs were originally taken. Central to the idea was that the user could then view the different photographs from the photographer’s perspective.

An old photograph of a man reading a book in the reading room, held up against the same background location where it was photographed decades earlier.
An old photograph of a man reading a book in the reading room, set within a point cloud scan.

It could be considered that LiDAR scanning isn’t separate to photography, but a younger sibling of it - photography with depth. With this in mind, the project explores not just the content of the photography, but the development of the medium itself.

LiDAR point-cloud scan of an ornate historic building interior, viewed from the front with its architectural structure rendered in translucent grey.
LiDAR point-cloud scan of a historic library interior showing bookshelves, balconies and sweeping staircases, with virtual navigation markers.
Screen version

There are two variations of the experience - a traditional screen version and a VR version, allowing different means of perceiving space to influence the UX design. In both experiences the user is able to explore the point cloud and move freely throughout it. In the screen version the user is able to fly, controlling their gliding movement with arcade game controllers.

Virtual reality view of a LiDAR point-cloud scan of a historic library interior, with navigation markers and a blue movement path.
VR version

The VR version is navigated through teleportation, allowing the user to cast a line to their destination. In both instances, entering a pink orb places the user in front of a historic photograph in the exact position the photographer stood decades earlier, bridging the past and present.

A high-angle view of the Library reading room captured as a black & white point cloud scan.
A black & white point cloud scan of the Library in section view.
A black & white point cloud scan of the library.
An old black & white photograph of the State Libary reading room is set within a point cloud scan of the library reading room.
An old photograph of an elderly man kneeling on the ground and reading a book is set within a point cloud scan of the library.
A 360 panoramic point cloud scan of the State Liubrary reading room.
An old photograph of a woman sitting at a desk reading is set within a point cloud scan of the library.
In an old photograph, a mans studies a large map on a desk in the library reading room. The photo is set within a point cloud scan of the library.
An old black & white photograph of an elderly man is set within a black & white point cloud scan of the State Library reading room.