This extraordinary exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology demonstrates the interaction of artistic virtual reality and how patients respond to medical treatment while they are experiencing the virtual environment. Tom Christopher along with FIT artists and technicians, using Google Tilt Brush, have created artwork which will be on view in a “fourth dimension.” The VR and art experience positively impact the patient experience during treatment and beyond.
Artist Tom Christopher created the the VR paintings in his studio with the help of FIT students, and recreated the environment at FIT for a complete immersive experience. A visitor puts on a VR headset and is transported to a brave new world of artistic virtual reality that begins with a pencil and ends as a calming therapeutic treatment, relieving a patient’s sensation of pain.
The Future Is Immersive
March 15 – May 20, 2019
An experiential exhibition highlighting the innovative process of creating fine art using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology.
In partnership with The Fashion Institute of Technology and Montefiore Medical Center
The Future Is Immersive was curated by Olivia Davis in collaboration with FIT’s Thomas McManus, associate professor, Communication Design; Joel Werring
associate professor, Fine Arts; and FIT Emerging Technologies Manager, James Pearce.
The artwork was created by Tom Christopher with the assistance of FIT alumni Jessica Baker, Amanda Conticchio, Stephanie Held, Joseph Irizarry, and Angela Rosado. Admission is free to all visitors.
“Tom’s remarkable work provides a fantasy escape for patients to lose themselves in.
It will provide a time of self forgetfulness in which one breathes solely in the world of color and art. A total immersive world. Our hope is that it will provide an alternative to the devastating long term effects of opioid use.”
-Tom McManus
Associate Professor
Advertising and Digital Design
Design Pathways Department
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“Tom Christopher’s fine art experiences offer patients a fantasy escape from their pain and fear. Through the creation of these wonderful artful experiences of traveling along The Grand Concourse and visiting the Train Show at the NYBG, patients are invited to enter a world of color, art and exploration. One leaves the hospital environment and enters a total immersive world. By providing this moment of distraction, our hope is to offer an alternative to the devastating long terms effects of opioid use.”
— Jodi Moise
Director Fine Art Department
Montefiore Medical Center, The Bronx
“The Future Is Immersive” was curated by Olivia Davis in collaboration with FIT’s Thomas McManus, associate professor, Communication Design; Joel Werring associate professor, Fine Arts; and FIT digital media coordinator James Pearce.
Art and Design Gallery of the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center at FIT.
