Rapid prototyping an entire museum gallery

After the basic  prototype was produced, designers were able to renovate the space quickly, to produce an "after" view of the plan.   Through this process we are able to compare versions and receive feedback from users during the process.

Artist and Second Life designer Kyle Walker built the blank prototype from photographs and measurements. 

We began with a scaled floorplan and worked just on the areas needed.

A few textures were added, mostly paying attention to the interior color schemes.

Doors were added and the interior space began to take shape. 
The virual space often seems a bit smaller than the real space due to the camera position.

A cieling texture was added, photographed from the real location.

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The cieling was made transparent on top, so that a view into the space remained possible.

Proportions were carefully extrapolated from the real room.

Subtle textures add to the realism, such as adding shadow elements and shine to objects.

One pre-existing exhibit was fabricated as well, the "Multi-step Machine".

Developers could obtain an entire "blank" room, then renovate it.
Wally Oyen prepares to develop from the bare walls.

The completed room is nearly indistinguishable in photographs from the real room without close inspection.

Elements such as basic furniture can be placed to determine space. 

 The curator and designer set about to renovate the space.  With a clear vision they were able to do this within a few hours.
  These are conceptual visuals for now, and helped to set the tone of the approach.

We will be posting more before and after photos of this process on this blog.
Still more can be found in the photo gallery section at http://thetechvirtual.org/photo-gallery