What is Pan Studio VR?

Pan Studio VR is a virtual reality experience that facilitates playing, learning and the exploration of the steel pan instruments in their many variations. Absent of many distractions, it provides users with the tools necessary to recite, compose, practice runs, build spatial and muscle memory and develop an ear for the instrument. As a facilitator, or even precursor to owning a physical steel pan, Pan Studio VR is not designed to represent a (one to one) simulation of any real instrument. As such, it offers many accommodations for the user that would otherwise be hard to accomplish (playing while sitting, handicapped, playing pan with headphones etc). Pan Studio VR maximizes computational efficiency which in turn delivers a very realistic and responsive feel while playing. It maintains a very high frame rate which eliminates effects like motion sickness and delivers a pleasing life-like experience. Pan Studio VR comes with an installed metronome and the ability to hide or display note values on the instruments at any given time.

What Pan Studio VR is not

Consciously, Pan Studio VR was not designed to be, or intended for the replacement of physical or in-person mentorship of the pan instrument, but instead is an ideal Teacher’s aid. Elements used to “gamify” and “score-track” have been intentionally left out as these are seen to be counter-intuitive to healthy foundational learning of a musical instrument. As well, overly complex or ‘video- game-like’ environments have been substituted for flat, pleasant, yet non- distracting situations. While there are hidden sections of steel pan history and a periodically updated cultural headlines feed, the app is not meant to represent a historical or museum-type atmosphere. Elements that touch on history or Pan culture are hyperlinked to extrapolated internet avenues that the user can explore outside of the Pan Studio VR app.

About the creator

Tristan D. John is a musician, artist and developer born in San Fernando, Trinidad. His formative years were lived in Tunapuna, Trinidad where he eventually left to study computer engineering and later earned a Bachelors of Science in audio production from Miami International University of Art and Design. As a technophile and developer, he believes that technology should supliment, embellish and augment the physical experience, not replace it, and strives towards ’conscious design‘. He has hobbies in philosophy and artificial intelligence.

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