Adobe
Project Canvox
Role:
HCI Researcher
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summary

Project Canvox is a voxel-based Virtual Reality creativity tool created by Adobe Research. Its infinite 360-degree landscape, coupled with its ability to zoom in to manipulate the smallest of details, makes Canvox the ultimate playground for spatially-oriented designers. Within the tool, users are able to paint using three-dimensional voxels, enabling a structural accuracy not found within pixel-based VR painting tools like Google TiltBrush. Furthermore, Canvox removes the barrier faced in complex 3D modeling tool by placing users in a natural landscape. Rather than needing to transmit 3D design decisions through a complex 2D interface, users engage with 3D content in a 3D module, with a simple UI optimized for VR. Our ethnographic interviews and rigorous user studies investigated the optimal role of Canvox within a 2D-3D design production pipeline.

presentations
Presented at ACM Creativity & Cognition 2019
publications
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under review
abstract
This study seeks to provide insight into two-dimensional (2D) artists' approach to three-dimensional (3D) creativity within a virtual environment. Specifically, this research investigates the widespread assumption that Virtual Reality (VR) provides a natural interface by which traditionally 2D-centric artists may explore 3D content creation. Using a prototype of Canvox, a VR tool that uses voxels to represent 3D space with a single stroke, we performed a qualitative study in which artists were observed producing familiar assets in a virtual space. Here, we present data on 2D artists' expectations for the User Interface (Space, Navigation, Scale, Tool Accessibility, Lighting), Functionality (Tool Functionality, Materials, Brushes, Primitives), Applications (Communication Mechanisms, Use Cases), and User Mindset (Ideation, Creation, Opportunities) for VR creation. Our results offer insights into the bifurcations between artists' mental models of 2D and VR creativity: in VR, artists expect to create content, while in 2D, artists expect to render representations of content. We also demonstrate the potential use cases of this emerging creative platform.
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