‘This is the cleverest shit I’ve seen in my entire life on the internet.’
That was a typically awestruck comment after an artist sketched York Minster as if she was sitting next to it – from her studio in Canada.
Liz Edwards used an ingenious combination of technologies, including virtual reality, to undertake the drawing.
And her video has now been viewed more than one million times – while simultaneously blowing the minds of all who have seen it.
The video
I clipped a webcam to my collar so I could sketch in real life while using Street View in Google Earth VR. pic.twitter.com/vEFmztFnns
— Liz Edwards (@lizaledwards) December 30, 2018
‘You’re living in 3018’
Liz is a 3D character artist who works for video game company Ubisoft.
In the past she’s created 3D and 360 illustrations for clients such as Warner Bros and The Guardian.
Although she lives in Montreal she was able to position herself ‘next to’ York Minster by streaming Google Earth to a virtual reality headset.
By attaching a webcam attached to her collar which showed her sketchbook and using open-source software to stream this to her headset she could be ‘in York’ and at home in Canada at the same time.
Originally from Bridlington, Liz described York Minster as one of her favourite places.
The comments on her viral Twitter video were filled with amazement including…
- ‘What in God’s name you just TELEPORTED’
- ‘Thank you for sharing this. I just showed it to my daughter (who loves to draw) and her head exploded’
- ‘You’re living in 3018’
- ‘This is the most ingenious thing I’ve seen in years’
You can see more of Liz’s work on her website.