VESSEL Transparent OLED SCULPTURE
REUKO X LUMINARY DESIGN
Made in collaboration with Luminary Design for Infocomm 2023, the Vessel transparent OLED sculpture explores the cycles of depletion and renewal that happens across all facets of our natural existence. The carbon cycle, the water cycle, the atmospheric cycle, and the life cycle. It's about our finite and delicate shared reality within this biosphere. To ground the ethereal energies visualized on this unique canvas, a bonsai tree was installed as a physical centerpiece inside of the vessel.
Early installation tests (left) and final sculpture visual (right)
*Bonsai tree replaced during installation
A recurring theme was to express the movement of energy in a soothing, circular pattern, while still containing this energy within the structure of the Vessel. The aim was to give a physical presence to the visuals on the transparent OLED panels by having the particle simulation interact and collide with the walls inside the Vessel. This created a feeling of looking in through a window, or portal, into the core of the Vessel structure, revealing a hidden world of recycling and regenerating energy within.
Unreal Niagara particle systems setup
We employed Unreal Engine 5’s Niagara particle system to execute on the simulation visuals. Each of the 8 separate panels was a 1080P transparent OLED canvas, composited into a single larger format video asset to be displayed on the installation on-site. 8 cameras were created perpendicular for each of the 8 panels, looking inwards towards the core of the Vessel structure.
8 camera angles setup (left) and particle collision volumes (purple lines) (right)
To improve readability of the simulation visuals from all angles of the sculpture, a custom distance masking material was used so that only the nearest particles would be captured for each camera angle.
Particle distance fading (left) 360 view of particle collisions with panels (right)
8 camera angles rendered into a single large video asset