Reflecting on VR preservation: iPres 2019

Since ACMI commissioned and acquired its first VR artwork in 2016, we have been exploring strategies to display and secure such rapidly shifting technology. We have also pursued opportunities to compare and improve our processes through research and collaboration.

Facilitated by Tom Ensom (Tate), Jack McConchie (Tate), Dragan Espenschied (Rhizome) and Claudia Roeck (University of Amsterdam) the VR hackathon held at iPRES2019 (Eye Film Museum, Amsterdam) afforded such an opportunity. Running continuously alongside the multitude of workshops and presentations at iPres, the hackathon proved to be the ideal format to collaboratively identify, analyse, test and share preservation risks, challenges and strategies pertaining to VR artworks.

Images: Dragan Espenschied sets up VR work for VR Hackathon, Jack McConchie explains the variability between the different versions of Lawrence Lek’s Play Station 2017

VR: preservation challenges

  • Lack of standardisation: VR systems are often composed of interconnected proprietary hardware (sensors, hand controllers, Head Mounted Display HMD and software components) that are not portable across platforms
  • Managing, securing and maintaining access to complex digital data such as multi-layered source, project and executable files for long-term storage
  • Variability between VR systems is difficult to document and therefore challenging to measure against unwanted future change/s
  • There appears to be no shared lexicon for describing VR components, behaviours and or digital data abnormalities (such as exists for describing unwanted artefacts in standardised moving image formats)
Lawrence Lek, Play Station 2017

What was tested at iPres

These works presented an opportunity to examine Unity and Unreal Engine VR production environments as well as Oculus, HTC Vive Pro and Windows Mixed Reality systems/HMD’s to test the following:

  • Incremental migration of the same work/s testing a range of related game engine versions (Unreal Engine in the case of Play Station)
  • Documentation strategies to track changes and variability between VR systems and tools available to record interaction, motion and behaviours (input data and HMD visual)
  • How extant industry terms describing VR hardware and behaviours may be applied to a preservation glossary and by what means a glossary may be built and shared in preservation communities
Tom Ensom, Jack McConchie, Claudia Roeck and Dragan Espenschied present some of the VR hackathon findings at iPres 2019

Some results from the hackathon

  • There is a pressing need to further build upon the glossary that was developed during the three days. Behaviours, degrees of interactivity and the sorts of variability witnessed of the works across various platforms are difficult to define. Describing the appearance of a work as more ‘shiny’ or ‘seems better’ when displaying it in a different HMD/VR systems is not altogether satisfactory but how can these qualities be articulated?
  • A range of strategies borrowing from the strides made in the field of software preservation, such as disk imaging (to capture the complex build environments for VR systems) and incremental migration are required for a wholistic approach to preservation as well as a range of documentation strategies such as recording sensor data within HMD and tracking VR input data
  • Incremental migration of project files was possible in this trial — for instance migrating Play Station from Unreal Engine 4.18 right up to 4.23 seemed successful without producing significant change, however the nature of proprietary technology means that this could shift overnight
  • Clear guidelines for both creators and collectors require development and should include making portability a priority for as many platforms possible as many aspects of today’s VR technology — frame rate, resolution and functionality are likely to change in the future software iterations

VR at ACMI

Some of the non-VR, experiential elements of Did you ask the river? 2019 Joan Ross and Josh Harle (Tactical Space Lab), Mordant Family commission

Implementing preservation strategies

Did you ask the river? 2019 Joan Ross and Josh Harle (Tactical Space Lab), Mordant Family commission

As we work through the technical and metaphysical challenges implicit in complex VR systems, forums such as the VR hackathon at iPres allow for collective analysis, testing and I’m hoping continued dialogue around this complex preservation challenge.

Huge thanks to Tom Ensom, Jack McConchie, Dragan Espenschied, Claudia Roeck, Patricia Falcao, Alessandra Luciano, Seb Chan, Nick Richardson and Ben Abbott.

ACMI LABS

Experiments in media, technology & user experience from inside @ACMI, Melbourne.

Candice Cranmer

Written by

Time-based Media Conservator at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image

ACMI LABS

Experiments in media, technology & user experience from inside @ACMI, Melbourne.

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