Early Experimental Paintings
Beginning in 1976, Craig McDaniel (believes he) developed the first head-mounted, portable display system for a 360-degree immersive simulation application as a work of visual art. The HMD was attached to a counter-weight via two pulleys, so the system could move up and down to ‘float’ while the viewer wore the HMD, covering the head. Illuminated by an interior light at the top, the six interior panels contained a cohesive painted panoramic view. In select units, the viewer donned earphones prior to entering the system, to hear a sound track on a continuous loop. Beginning in 1982, McDaniel experimented with photographic images projected onto the four side panels to provide an immersive panoramic visual experience with photographic imagery in a portable HMD-system for a single viewer.
Exhibition history: Artwork by C. McDaniel on cover of Dialogue: the Ohio Arts Journal, Nov./Dec. 1982. Description of C. McDaniel’s art and illustration in “Selections: Six in Ohio”, in Dialogue, Nov./Dec. 1982, p. 37. Public exhibitions of these immersive HMD artworks include: 1981, Lima Art Association, Lima, Ohio; 1982 Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; 1983, ‘1983 Ohio Selections’ at Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio; 1984, Kent State University Art Gallery, Kent, Ohio; 1986, Ohio State University Art Gallery, Columbus, Ohio; 1985, Columbus Museum of Art.
