Virtual Craft: Experiences and Aesthetics of Immersive Making Culture

Abstract

As immersive media, including VR, AR, MR, and XR, continues to expand rapidly during the pandemic era, there remains limited research on its comprehensive characteristics and its potential to create new forms of experience and aesthetics. This may be attributed to a lack of an understanding that immersive technologies exist encompassing both realms of reality and virtuality, leading to misconceptions that they are radically disconnected from traditional notions of materiality. In contrast, this study identifies an emerging trend characterized by the material implementation of immersive technologies in the domain of making culture in VR, which is referred to as “virtual craft” in this research. By reviewing studies on immersive media, materiality, making culture, and triadic semiotics, an integrated conceptual framework was developed to assess the experiences, aesthetics, and potential of immersive making culture. This framework is then applied to a specific case study involving virtual craft, with a particular focus on the 3D painting application, Tilt Brush, and related applications that the author has observed and tested. In conclusion, this paper presents a vision of the future of virtual craft and discusses the sustainability of immersive making culture, highlighting the potential for continued innovation and integration in various fields.