This thesis project began as an exploration of the ways in which Virtual Reality (VR) could revolutionize drawing. What I learned through this research journey was that drawing could also revolutionize how we see, and therefore, what we can do, in VR.
I will begin by establishing a contextual background about the vision that some artists and theorists have had about the potential of VR over the past three decades. These individuals hoped to see VR become a tool that could help us learn to see and do things differently than the conventions of our everyday reality. Throughout this background context, I will form links to how three themes in VR: agency, presence, and embodiment, are all linked to drawing. With a focus on creative works made in VR, I will summarize the challenges to embodiment that I observed through my design research. I will present the pivotal insight in my research: that the root of these challenges lies in the use of linear perspective, a drawing method that evolved into a coordinate system that now underpins computer graphics systems. I will propose that an alternative method of drawing in perspective is made possible through VR; one that is based on the perceptual qualities of how we naturally see. In addition, I will show how VR also offers the possibility of drawing in an embodied way through techniques of spatial gesture drawing. Lastly, I will present two methods for applying these concepts for creatives working with 3D geometry in VR. While these methods will help creators today, I hope that this research can contribute to the innovation of VR software and tools.

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