She has officially arrived at the status of “coolest mom.”
All it took was a lot of soul-searching about how she could get her teenage daughter interested in science and technology and chart a business path for herself at the same time.
When Tay (yes, she uses one name only) hit on the idea of creating her own virtual reality gaming company, she realized she’d found a winner.
“How could I not find a business that was going to be this much fun?” she says with a laugh.
Tay will be on hand for Luminescence III, taking over the basement at Deer Lake Gallery with her virtual reality art experience, TiltBrush. The game gives participants a chance to don the virtual reality headset and - with a series of virtual controls that allow them to select brush, brush stroke, colour, shade, lighting and more – “paint” their own creation.
“It’s a way to be able to paint in 3D,” she says. “It just opens up the mind for the imagination to be able to flood. I like how we’re painting with light … It’s just a new perspective on art and painting.”
Artists can use the immersive virtual experience to get their creative juices flowing for starting to work on paper or create a three-dimensional sculpture; the fact that TiltBrush allows the participant to “walk into” their own work allows them a unique perspective on that third dimension.
But it’s also rewarding simply as a stand-alone experience, and Tay is hoping to see people of all ages and abilities and varying degrees of artistic inclination turn out to give it a try. You don’t need to be an artist to enjoy it, she says, noting it has an equal appeal to people with a more technological bent who want to experience the virtual reality aspect of it.
“Anybody who can look through the headset can participate,” she says.
Tay’s typical events include birthday parties and corporate team-building exercises, so being part of an art show is a new experience for her – and one she’s looking forward to, especially since she’s already a painter herself.
“It was fun for me because it’s a new medium,” she says. “Since I already have a passion for art in various forms, I wanted to see what I could create in a new way.”
She’s looking forward to seeing people’s reactions to the experience, especially those who may question what virtual reality has to do with art.
“They get to create their own art at an exhibit,” she says. “How cool is that?”
VR4U will be at the gallery for opening night and on Saturdays through the exhibition. See more about Tay and VR4U online at vr4U.games.
