The Big Crash VR
Online VR
The Big Crash VR is a nonlinear immersive VR art piece based on data mined from real estate sites. It is part of Malte Steiner's art project The Big Crash and has as thematic departure point the instability of the real estate market as a consequence of extreme gentrification. There is a pending ‘big bubble crash’ awaiting because of this and the piece deals with the increasing uncertainty and its effects on society this movement creates.
The VR world is build with graphical artefacts derived from real estate ads from Berlin with a custom software. Images from those ads are segmented into objects by a Machine Learning algorithm and used to create a surreal architecture in the 3D environment.
Spatial positioned sound fragments from two music compositions based on the data from the prices and square meters over a span of several months provides an additional layer.
The multiuser version of The Big Crash VR is hosted on Mozilla Hubs and can be entered by following link:
https://hubs.mozilla.com/ufU2mgo/the-big-crash
It is suitable for all webbrowsers but can be also viewed with the build-in browsers of VR Headsets.
Wander around with the help of the cursor keys or alternatively the key W (forward), A (left), S (backwards) or D (right), or if you are using a VR headset, the appropriate input devices. Observe the large area but also the spatial, virtual multichannel audio. Holding down the shift key speeds up the motion and makes it easier to reach all areas. By moving the mouse you can look around and up.
If you feel adventurous you can toggle to the fly modus by pressing G. Then you are not further ground bound and can even hoover over the buildings. Pressing G again drops you back to the ground.