vio zhu

New York - Tokyo
Creative Technology
VJ & Audio-Visual

Email
@vio.zhu
 ITP Blog


Collaborated with
musician / artists -
DJ Rebolledo, ASUKA, YY, HACOIRI, Kylie
Manami Sakamoto, Demsky

Brand Collaboration
France -
Palais des Beaux Arts Lille

NYC, United States -
Artechouse NYC, The End Bushwick,
New York Academy of Science

Tokyo, Japan -
Public Visuals, LVMH Tokyo Summit,
Querico Tokyo,  WOMB, HVEN,  
Mitsuki, Circus

selected works   TouchDesigner | UnrealEngine | Unity | Installation projects commisions experimentsinfo
Rising River VR
September 2024

AI-powered VR Theraputic VR Experience

Unreal Engine 5
Blender
Open AI API, speechgen.io API




    About


    Official Website - risingriverofficial.com

    Rising River is an AI-driven self-analysis VR game inspired by Jungian shadow theory and the VIA 24 Character Strengths. In this interactive experience, players use their voice to restore a symbolic river, engaging in both fixed and generative self-reflective questions. The journey climaxes with the appearance of a giant fish, representing the player’s shadow self.

    My role: AI-integration, UE5 development


    Inspiration and Concept



    The inspiration comes from Lois’ childhood fantasies—a mysterious space that interacts with me, fulfilling the need to temporarily leave reality and enter a private, safe place. Even as adults, this need persists. People watch movies, play games, or go to clubs to briefly escape life. But these activities often take people to irrelevant places. What if there was a space where you can leave temporarily but still reflect on your life in some way?

    Narrative Healing



    Psychological research shows that storytelling helps people find meaning in their life experiences, construct identity, and cope with trauma. Due to my background in filmmaking, I realized that narrative itself is a way to organize memories and psychological structures. This research validates the significance of generative narrative healing experience.



    My Technical contributions



    • Establish real-time communication with ChatGPT through the OpenAI API to customize questions for players with different personalities.
    • Convert user input into GPT system settings and conversation prompts.
    • Convert questions and dialogs generated by GPT into real-time audio within the game.
    • Develop the game's storyline and user interaction logic.

    Technical Difficulties

    • Latency improvement from both game logic perspective and technical perspective.
    • Performence optiization in VR mode.





    Credits


    Creative Director:                        Lois He
    AI Integration:                               Vio Zhu
    Visual Design:                              John Luo
    Tech Art:                                        John Luo, Lois He
    Technical Consultant:                 Xuelong Mu
    VR Development:                        Lois He, Ellen Chen
    UI Design:                                     Lillian Sun, John Luo
    Sound & Music Design:             Kaiyang Zhao
    Psychology-Guided Design:     Andrew Trousdale
    Special Thanks:                           Dan Tomasulo, Victor Morales
                                                           Jonathan Turner , Tianqi Yang, Todd Bryant,
                                                            Chenyi Lee



    Exhibitions

    • Artechouse NYC, NY, US
    • The Holy Art Gallery, Athens and London
    • GenAI Summit San Francisco 2024 Art Section, CA, US
    • NYU Tisch International Arts Incubator Exhibition, La MaMa Experimental Theatre, NY, US
    • NYU ITP/IMA Spring Show 2024, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, NY, US


    Press



    Press Kit 2024 Version



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