The Ruben Museum experience is a virtual tour New York City's Rubin Museum and features 7 artworks from the museums collection of Himalayan art. The art  and progression within the experience introduces students to key concepts of Buddhism from sculpture and painting to a fully immersive Mandala. 

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The sculpture was re-created with high-resolution photogrammetry. The 7 paintings were re-created with high resolution photographs. The mandalas were created in 3D and layout, lighting and scripting created with Unreal 4. The app was developed for GearVR.

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I designed the experience as a two part engagement with Buddhist art and religion. The initial phase is recreation of the Rubin's second floor gallery interior complete with exterior traffic sounds. The goal was to begin blending the Buddhist experience into the contemporary museum experience and serve as the launching point for the next phase, a virtual reality creation of a traditional Buddhist walking meditation within a mandala realized in virtual space.

 

The progression of the meditation is narrated by actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The narrative explains key elements and symbols found in the mandala while emphasizing the n-dimensional conceptual qualities of mandalas and their role in meditation and spiritual growth.

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The app includes classroom resources and guides to identifying Buddhist art and symbols.