EcoArt

EcoArt is a virtual art gallery that draws inspiration from nature. Our inaugural exhibition is inspired from space travel. This gallery allows 3D artists to showcase/sell their work like never before

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Inspiration

The inspiration behind this project was our desire to help digital artists protect their work. The digital artwork in our first gallery was inspired by discussions in the 3i Space Dynamics Research Group regarding NFT generation and artistic trajectories.

What it does

We have created a virtual art gallery in which artists can share their work and patrons can view both 2D and 3D pieces. These pieces can also be auctioned or purchased directly from the artist via a NFT on the Cardona blockchain. Each piece in our inaugural exhibition was created using a circular restricted three body orbit propagator, NASA initial conditions, and Blender 3D modeling tool.

How we built it

The project was broken down into 3 major pieces: artwork generation, gallery modeling, and website creation. The artwork was generated by propagating initial position and velocity of a spacecraft using a circular restricted three body simulation. This generated curve data was then imported into Blender which was then used to generate the artistic features such as colors, lighting, and textures. The gallery was modeled using the unity 3D simulation/rendering tool with VR in mind. The artwork was then imported into this environment. HTML/CSS were used to generate the landing page and connect with the VR engine.

Challenges we ran into

Primarily, we ran into machine limitations when two of our machines were either out of commission or unable to perform the needed rendering. The use of library, lab, and fellow teammates machines helped us complete the project to the current level of completion. Additionally, the initial art generation using the above method turned out to be very cumbersome and time-consuming.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Solving complex CSS/HTML bugs, 3D rendering of sculptures and pieces, and successfully minting a concept NFT (not in final version of project).

What we learned

Blender/python script execution, website creation (HTML/CSS) bugs, importing VR into a Unity project, Web3 basics, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

What's next for EcoArt

Our next steps are preparing for our next exhibition, expanding our VR gallery, and giving artists a safe and simple method of protecting their digital art using NFTs.

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