VIRTUAL PARKS, VRLOG BY ERIK GOETZE
A Wilderness Adventure and a community weblog in VR
by Doug DeRusha
"I almost always feel the greatest connection to the universe, the most complete absorption in the moment, the most sublime serenity, in nature."
And with these words from Erik Goetze we begin a journey into the mind of a man who has brought his vision to life... a vision whose purpose it is to share the sanctity of nature by immortalizing it for all to appreciate and enjoy on the world wide web.
VirtualParks.org is an impressive offering of wilderness panoramas that are as much a testimony to the artist as the subject matter of the panos themselves. From the azure waters of Moraine Lake in Banff, Alberta to a backpack trip down the John Muir Trail, Erik has traveled and shot panos to document - in 360 degrees - the value of our natural assets and the need to preserve them for future generations.
And it's not just a walk in the Park... well, it is, but hiking the 211 mile long John Muir Trail is not a 'walk' as much as a marathon test of endurance, tenacity, and commitment. Such a hike also entails months of physical and mental preparation, logistical challenges, time allocation, and up front costs - all for the sole purpose of bringing the experience to the web for the benefit and enjoyment of others. In explaining what makes this type of challenge worthwhile to him, Erik explains, "The amount of effort that goes into making these immersive experiences as best I can is a way of honoring a moment and a place." And this amount of effort wouldn't be possible without a strong body, so at times he loads his backpack with 35 pounds of lead weights and hikes up the slopes of the highest local mountain to simulate the strain of backpacking in the high Sierra. His running and training regimens are key to maintaining the levels of physical fitness needed to get to places like the peak of Mount Whitney.
Erik had seen demonstrations of VR in computer science labs, but it wasn't until he saw the Apple Company Store (photographed by Scott Highton) and other QTVR movies at Seybold '95 that he began to comprehend how he could put this technology to use in sharing his wilderness hiking experiences. He began shooting panos in Oct 1995, and started to plan a web site of panoramas from around the Western US. With the excitement of pioneering in a new medium such as VR and the value of sharing his efforts in the original spirit of the Internet, Erik plunged himself into travelling, shooting, and post-production work to "convey my sense of connection to the land and special places." To date, Erik has shot over 2,500 wilderness panos, most of which are available on VirtualParks.org, and he continues to capture these immortal scenes with every outing.
One of the hallmarks of Erik's site is the organization and accessibility of the content ... a necessity when dealing with thousands of panos and associated information. Intelligent organization of such a large number of assets goes a long way in providing an enjoyable, entertaining and enlightening user experience, and VirtualParks.org comes through in this regard. First of all, menu selections at the top of the screen allow you to organize your search in several ways, and are broken out into a number of different categories. 'Geography', for example, provides a map of North America indicating regions with available panoramas, while 'Theme' breaks the pano listings into sub-listings such as 'Mountain tops and passes', 'Ghost towns and ruins', 'Redwoods and Sequoias', 'Rock formations', etc. 'Best of' lets you view the most popular panos as determined by visitors to the site, and the alphabetical index leads you directly into the VR vault.
An important aspect of VirtualParks.org is tied to the vision that Erik had when he began his quest. It is difficult to anticipate when natural or man-made disasters will exact a toll on our natural wonders. From the devastation of Mount St. Helen's to the recent heavy flooding in Europe, all of these events have changed the face of the landscape in some dramatic way. By chronicling these wild places before they disappear, he is ensuring that there will always be a visual record to bear witness. Erik's sense of responsibility becomes even more apparent when he explains, "Years from now, the archive of VirtualParks immersive images will show us what thousands of places looked like at a moving snapshot in time."
In seven years of shooting VR, Erik has seen more natural beauty than most of us will ever witness firsthand, but because of the pioneering efforts of Apple and their QTVR technology and VR photographers like Erik Goetze, we can at least share in the wealth.
VRLOG
In addition to VirtualParks.org, Erik is the creator of a daily report on the latest happenings in the industry. His web site at http://www.VRLog.com provides a daily offering of information on VR related hardware and software, third party apps and utilities, and industry news. The daily format is particularly accessible as VRlog usually highlights only one or two links for you to explore, with a brief explanation or summary on the subject. This link could lead to a review on Zoomify 1.6 software, the 2002 Market Report on Virtual Reality Technology, QTVR's from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Apple's web site, or an article on the perceived resolution of digital cameras vs. film.
And that's not all... VRMAG is pleased to announce that Erik Goetze will become a permanent fixture in our publication, offering up such editorial gems as: 'What it means to be a VR photographer', 'Trends in the VR world', Automating the panoramic workflow', 'Shooting VRs lightly (while backpacking)', and 'It's time for full-screen VR'.
Be sure to check out his inaugural 'VIRTUAL VIEWPOINT: ERIC GOETZE'S FOV' column in this issue of VRMAG.
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