Take part in an immersive virtual reality experience and find yourself first surrounded by colonies of bacteria from the human skin, then inside a next generation sequencer as you fly through a light field created by fluorescent molecules attaching to millions of DNA bases from a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus. Then be part of big data as the genetic information rains down around you and finally find yourself inside the ring-shaped genome several miles across.

We will be showcasing a 3D Virtual Reality artistic experience all about Microbes and Bacterial DNA, created by internationally-acclaimed artists Anna Dumitriu and Alex May in partnership with Modernising Medical Microbiology.  This short piece explores how bacterial DNA is sequenced using light, with the Illumina/Solexa technology, which is currently used all over the world.

 

 

Previously presented using the Oculus Rift headset, this is the first time the VR Experience will be available on YouTube, and experienced using your own smartphone using a cardboard headset.

Visit our stall for the chance to try the experience out!  We’ll also be giving away headsets to school group heads and as prizes

You can learn more about the project here:

http://annadumitriu.tumblr.com/Sequence

 

 

Instructions for the 3D VR experience :

1. Download the YouTube App to your smartphone if you don’t already have it  (important! VR doesn’t work if viewing through webpage)

 

2. Assemble your headset:   (or you can find out how to get one yourself here and here)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Using your smartphone, tap on this link: https://youtu.be/hh4p66NHyZQ. 

If your phone doesn’t do it automatically, open the video using the YouTube App 

 

4. Start the video, and click on the 3D viewer icon in the bottom right

 

 

 

 

 

Your phone should now look like this:

 

 

 

 

 

5. Put your phone in the 3D Viewer like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. You can look around to change where the ‘dot’ is, to select stop and start, and tap on your phone using the finger-hole underneath on the right.

The experience is best viewed with headphones!

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The 3D VR Experience is created using the Fugio software designed by Alex May.  This is an open source visual programming system for building digital art and creative projects quickly, with no programming experience required. It is created and maintained by Alex May and available for open use as part of May’s wider endeavour to democratise access to cutting edge technologies for artists.

Many thanks to the University of Oxford Knowledge Exchange Seed Fund for supporting the roll-out of this experience at the Royal Society Summer Event.