zx1900@nyu.edu
xuanzhongao.com
MultiSensory Virtual Reality
WEEK 2
Using Reality Capture and Maximo to Render and Rig Myself
Pearl Response:
When I first experienced Pearl, I was surprised by how little it relied on spoken words to carry the story. Unlike many VR films that use narration as the backbone, Pearl trusted its music, its silences, and its shifting environments to tell me what I needed to feel. I never felt the need to be told what was happening—the images themselves, combined with the emotional rhythm of the soundtrack, were enough.
I also found myself fascinated by how the film used the car as both a setting and a framing device. Sitting in the passenger seat, I felt as though I was watching a series of cinematic shots play out around me. When I leaned in to look at the daughter or the father, it felt like choosing my own close-up; when I stayed back and let my eyes wander across the road or out the windows, it became more like a wide shot. The car’s windows and mirrors seemed to act like natural frames, shaping how I read each moment without forcing me.
Most striking of all was how Pearl used time. Seasons changed, the car aged, the daughter grew up, and I felt as though I had lived those years alongside them. Small details—sunlight on the dashboard, a glance in the rearview mirror, a song on the tape deck—became deeply moving because I noticed them myself. In VR, those moments felt less like “watching a film” and more like inhabiting a memory.