Virtual reality art comes to life on the beach

Christopher Hart, sophomore exercise science major, creates a virtual drawing.

Students in the Extended Reality course in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts make virtual art on the beach.

Nicole Gomez, junior Art + Design major and graphic designer for The Current, and Maria Bernal, senior Art + Design major, use virtual reality headsets to create art.

Tina Valdovinos, junior communication major and multimedia journalist for The Current, and Lara Tobolski, sophomore Art + Design major, draw virtually with their headsets

Kolos Schumy, assistant professor in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, took students in his Extended Reality class to the Marine Environmental Education Center at the Carpenter House on Feb. 27. The students worked on their final projects on the beach using virtual reality headsets to create art.

Schumy wanted to give his students a special experience creating art in nature.
“I think it’s a very unique experience, and you make art in a different way when you’re touching and feeling and breathing the nature around yourself,” Schumy said.

The original idea behind doing virtual reality at the beach was inspired by the art style plein air, which means creating art outdoors.

“I really love the idea of plein air, the style from the late 1800s, like Monet, when artists went out to nature, and they had firsthand experience with nature. They had a touch and feel. So, they started painting outdoors. That was my idea: what if we take these headsets onto the beach?” Schumy said.

For students like Jesse Caruana, sophomore marine biology major with a minor in studio art, this experience was more than just their final project for class.

“I think when I’m drawing or creating any art, I try to put myself in the ocean aspect. But here, it was like I got to shoot it around me. I got to feel it, and it was really immersive, and I got to incorporate that in my work, which I liked a lot,” Caruana said.

Getting to take a trip to the MEEC was a new experience for students like Maria Bernal, senior Art + Design major with a concentration in graphic design.

“Sometimes we don’t experience all the things NSU offers. I had never been to the MEEC before, so with Professor Kolos giving us the opportunity to come here, see all the aspects NSU is involved, I think it’s really nice. [We are combining] the arts and the sciences,” Bernal said.

Each student got to create their own art through virtual reality headsets. Some of the inspiration behind the student’s artwork was jellyfish, sharks, fish and other sea creatures. Nicole Gomez, junior Art + Design major and graphic designer for The Current, used sea turtles as her inspiration.

“At the MEEC center, they have these two turtles, kind of sanctuaried in there. And I was like, ‘Oh, they’re so cute.’ I was inspired. So, I made these baby turtles on the beach, hatching out of their eggs and going into the ocean,” Gomez said.