Feb 09, 2022 VR Pottery: From the Virtual to the Tangible

By Tony Sams

As an undergraduate working on my BFA in Fine Arts, my first, and only, ceramics course brought tears to my eyes. While I enjoyed the tactile feel of wet clay, my struggles with “the wheel of misfortune” became personal and tortured me throughout the semester. Fast forward, many years, I once again have found myself at the mercy of the wheel. This time, it’s virtual.

Giving a tour for VR Services, I offered up an off-the-cuff response to a student about how VR might be applied to a ceramics major. I threw it out there, “as a ceramics major you can create virtual pottery and then export the model and print it here in Protospace” I have tried many VR applications that allow the user to visually design & create 3D art, including virtual pottery wheels, so I just assumed it was possible. I took it to task to find a pottery-specific application that would allow the user to virtually “throw” a pot and then export a printable file to output to our 3D printing service.

Yaddi, yaddi, yadda…Dojagi: The Korean Pottery. The app is the only one I found that allowed me to export an .OBJ file. Dojagi is available on Steam for $14.99 or in the Oculus store for $29.99 (https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1709774229054709/). The app gamifies the creation process by rewarding the user with trophies and virtual currency to purchase better tools, colors, etc. The models you create are saved to a cloud source where you can download them. The exported models are nearly ready for print, the user just needs to select the scale and a few other minor tweaks.

Given my past experience with pottery. I sat on this project before taking the plunge. Producing a tangible object from a virtual creation was worth it. If you want to give it a try, I am more than happy to help you discover VR pottery and then help you print it.

Tony Sams | New Media Projects Specialist
Creativity & Innovation Services
tony.sams@utah.edu

Application: Dojagi: The Korean Pottery

(https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1709774229054709/)

VR Hadrware: Oculus Quest 2

(https://www.oculus.com/quest-2/)

Printer: Prusa i3 MK 3S

(https://www.prusa3d.com/)

VR Services

https://lib.utah.edu/services/virtual-reality/

3D Printing Services

https://lib.utah.edu/services/3d-printing/