In 2020, I won a grant to create my own virtual reality experience based off a prototype I had made in HoloLens (AR) back in 2018.
The inspiration behind Gardening came from the six years I was a music teacher. I learned that everyone is musical. Rather than try to measure a student’s potential or ability, it was my responsibility as a teacher to bring out my student’s inherent musicality.
I wanted to create a virtual world where everyone could feel excited about music and not focused on if what they’re doing is right/wrong/good/bad. While not everyone sees themselves as being able to create music, Gardening allows people to explore that side of themselves.
Enter the Gardening world and see barren trees with green buds. You can hear the sound of the ocean, and the color of the sky is synced to real-time—if you play Gardening during the afternoon, it’ll be a bright blue sky, versus a dark sky if you play at night.
Tap flower buds.
Hear them bloom.
The sounds you hear are limited to the specific notes in a pentatonic scale (either C, D, E, G, or A). You could play any combination of these notes and not have to worry about if it sounds “bad.”
Listen.
Each note will repeat at randomized intervals according to an algorithm. This is what makes Gardening a VR generative music experience: generative music is music created by a system. It plays on the interaction from your inputs with computer-generated randomness to make endless music that is always changing. Listen to how your rhythms and harmonies evolve!
Gardening VR Trailer (2020)
2024 Maryland
Film Festival
It was an honor to show Gardening at the 2024 Maryland Film Festival and to be a part of the CineTech Panel!
BaltiVirtual CEO
Creative Director
Programmer
Project Manager
Lead Creator
Technical Director
Creative Producer
Advisor
Sarah Chen
Haley Knapp
Nina Halper
Gabo Arora
Will Gee
David Thompson
Ben Safford
Thom Swanson
“Imagine that composing [music] could be something more like gardening than like architecture. You make some choices, you plant them, and then they grow. But, of course, you don't control precisely how they grow. In fact, that's the excitement of gardening—that things happen in ways you don't expect.”
Gardening VR
Reframing Reality AR
Six Weeks in Taiwan
More Than Karate
Graphic Design
