a 5 year long adventure leading up to a #360NFT collab drop at Knownorigin.
Wednesday 4th of August 2021 at 6pm UTC,
a 7x 360NFT collab series will drop at Knownorigin.
The series consists of seven 1/1 edition NFT artspheres created in collaboration with some of the best cryptoartists out there : Redideo, James Fox, Madolf D, untitled xyz, Lovevisuals, Elgecko and Christopher Dowding.
7 spherical artworks have been tokenized in a slightly compressed 8K resolution for optimal web performance and the 24K original sized files can be downloaded by the collectors in the unlockable section of the NFTs at the Knownorigin platform.
The full collection at Knownorigin can be found here, and the VR installation at Somniumspace is accessible directly by browser here.
On my website you will find the complete backbone for the entire setup.
5 year trip in a nutshell and how 360° Design has been at the core of my work since 2016.
“From the moment I saw the first 360° photography appear on the internet I immediately felt a deep hunger to tame this medium and make it my own.”
My 360° adventure started 5 years ago when Facebook enabled it’s users to post 360° photography just by uploading a .jpg with equirectangular metadata so visitors could interactively look around in that photo sphere.
I had been experimenting with digital art & photography since 1990 so I felt confident enough to take on this beast. Along with some snippets of info found here and there on the web, most of my knowledge I gathered from Paul Bourke’s work.
I dove deep into the mathematics of the projection of the cube onto the sphere,created my own 2D digital painting workflow from the information I gathered and perfected it over the years.
In 2017 - one year after my first 360° trials - I was obsessed enough to make sure I could experience my own spherical artworks in the way they were meant to be experienced. So I invested in a fully portable VR setup : an XMG Walker (portable backpack pc) and an HTC Vive headset, fully equipped with multiple battery packs to go on the road so I wouldn’t be dependent of an electrical grid with outlets nearby.
Completely mind-blown by the effect of stepping into my own artwork, I was immediately hooked and VR has been one of my main tools ever since those first moments.
To make a long story short : March 2020 right after covid-19 hit planet Earth I stumbled onto Somniumspace VR where - while being on the search for new grounds since the physical world was totally cancelled - I immediately found my new home.
The birth of 360NFTs.
1 Year later > March 6th 2021 - in collaboration with Knownorigin and Somniumspace VR - the first true 360NFTs were born.
The team made it so that when a user would upload a .jpg with equirectangular metadata on Knownorigin it would automatically be recognized and interactively navigable during the minting process in a 360° panorama preview.
This setup is completely in sync with Somniumspace VR in such a way that when your Metamask wallet content is read (NFT data from Opensea) the 360NFT can be placed in the Somniumspace builder in a volumetric way so that one can visit the 360 artwork with your avatar in a 3D virtual environment, either directly on SomniumWEB, in Somniumspace native VR or even in their “2D” client where you can walk around in the virtual world much like in a 1st/3rd person shooter game.
Visit the first 360° NFT installation on SomniumWEB
360° environments, virtual healing pods, meditation & your mind in VR.
“How I get to tell my story, one 360 art sphere at the time …”
While stepping foot inside such 360° environment, the first movement of the mind is outwards, to observe it’s surroundings and soak in the experience. Very soon after that and sometimes quite immediately, the mind is given the option to notice it is right there, right in the middle of that field of attention.
Quite curious is the fact the centered placement of the observer is what instills a certain level of awareness.
Some people focus on the absence of their bodies while looking down at their non-existing feet, which gives them the idea they are floating, as if suspended in an anti-gravity field. (fear of heights can occur)
Others are overwhelmed by the amount of data embedded in the scenery.
But most people tell stories of meditative stillness, deep relaxation and awe.
A hollow shape, making place for it’s core element, the observer. Since without the observer the observed might not exist.
“For me personally the 360° environment reminds me to a time in my life - must have been somewhere around the age of 22 - where - when overstimulated by the world around me - I completely shut down, closed my eyes and imagined a protective sphere around myself with an impenetrable titanium outer shell reflecting anything on the outside, while decorating the inside with beautiful colors, shapes and often flowers to soothe my own mind and enable myself to return back to a relaxed state.”
Over the years I have been accumulating many 360° artworks which can be found in many of my portfolios in which I have created sub-collections for this specific 360NFT drop event :
360NFT Collab Collection at my Artstation portfolio
- This setup contains all aspects per 360° artwork project.
360NFT Collab Collection at my Roundme portfolio
- Here you have the opportunity to experience the 360 spheres in a WEB-VR environment (firefox + VR headset recommended)
360NFT Collab Collection at my SteamVR workshop
- When familiar with SteamVR Home you can easily subscribe for free and set the VR Background into your own environment
360NFT Collab Collection at my Sketchfab portfolio
- Here you will find the 360artwork projected in/onto a 3D spheric model.
360NFT Collab Collection at my Website
- This is the full backbone for this specific drop.
So, back to the 360NFT collab drop on Wednesday 4th of August 2021.
Below are displayed the artworks as 1/1 edition 2D animated NFTs sitting at the “Intertwined 360° Revelation” storefront at Opensea.
They will be airdropped as an additional item to the collector’s address upon purchase of the original 1/1 edition 360NFT at Knownorigin.
All seven 1/1 edition #360NFTs will drop at 6pm UTC at Knownorigin
with a reserve price of 1 ETH.
7x 360NFTs :
- Calibration Pod - in collab with REDIDEO
“A technological marvel, designed to measure and notify, not adjust.
Insert personal settings, no metrological standards are implied.
All data is free to interpretation. Perception is key.”
“The energy one can experience inside the matrix — in this case the empty space is surrounded by this radiant art bubble sphere to ‘mark’ the spot — is just one of the countless ways the universe has installed to show you it totally supports you in every way. The only thing for you to do is to take the first step and soak in the experience.”
- Endoskeletal Memories - in collaboration with Madolf D
“Dark memories & underlying visions pointing towards the power and influence of the collective unconscious / perinatal matrices and transpersonal psychology.”
- Solar Yields - in collaboration with untitled, xyz
“This device is build to harness solar energies beyond comprehension.
Any life form that enters this energetic pod will have its final state read and enhanced to the point of acceptance at the given moment.”
- Port X-42, Robotics Junction - in collaboration with LOVEVISUALS
“A place in cyborg heaven / a node to relax in / a chamber connecting you with — and channeling energies from and into — hyperspace / a centerpoint to regain focus and reboot.”
- Hikurisophia - in collaboration with Christopher Dowding
“A humble tribute to the wisdom humanity has received through millennia of communication during internal visionary sacrament in communion with gods, spirit and the divine.”
- Infinite Depths - in collaboration with Elgecko
“The awe inspiring kaleidoscopic and fractal nature of existence incentivizes the observer as centerpiece in it’s search to the point of origin, the outer rim and the entire manifestation.”
