Spatial Correlation is an interactive digital artwork that provides a new window into the process of creating freeform handcrafted virtual sculptures while standing in an immersive Cave virtual reality (VR) environment. The piece originates in the lab, where the artist’s full-body, dance-like sculpting process is recorded using a combination of spatial tracking devices and an array of nine synchronized video cameras. Later, in the gallery, these raw data are reinterpreted as part of an interactive visualization that relates the three spaces in which the sculpture exists: 1) the physical lab/studio space in which the sculpture was created, 2) the digital virtual space in which the sculpture is mathematically defined and stored, and 3) the physical gallery space in which viewers now interact with the sculpture.

This paper presents a series of insights from an ongoing investigation into refining custom spatial computer interfaces and graphical primitives for suggesting 3D form in immersive digital spaces. Technical innovations utilizing 3D gesture capture, force feedback, and stereoscopic presentation are described through reference to specific free-form digital sculptures created with the CavePainting and Drawing on Air interfaces. The role of the human hand in digital art practice and the potential of interfaces that tightly couple freehand movements with geometric algorithms are discussed.

This paper presents a series of insights from an ongoing investigation into refining custom spatial computer interfaces and graphical primitives for suggesting 3D form in immersive digital spaces. Technical innovations utilizing 3D gesture capture, force feedback, and stereoscopic presentation are described through reference to specific free-form digital sculptures created with the CavePainting and Drawing on Air interfaces. The role of the human hand in digital art practice and the potential of interfaces that tightly couple freehand movements with geometric algorithms are discussed.