{"id":23891,"date":"2026-10-20T10:58:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/?p=23891"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:58:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:58:06","slug":"call-unity-vr-developer-for-gallery-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/2026\/10\/20\/call-unity-vr-developer-for-gallery-show\/","title":{"rendered":"CALL: Unity VR developer for Gallery Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a><\/a>Box Me: VR Installation \u2014 Developer Brief<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m looking for a Unity VR developer to build a Meta Quest boxing experience for a gallery show launching my new book in New York. Viewers put on the headset and box us, me and my partner Mint, right there in the gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m Jason Wall, a Brooklyn street artist with 25+ years of experience, working with my partner Mint (Mikhail Sokovikov) as Mint+Serf, two published monographs, and brand collaborations including Coach and Marc Jacobs. More at <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/serfberg\">@serfberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>The experience<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A session lasts about 3 minutes, so the line keeps moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An attendant fits the headset. Using Quest passthrough (mixed reality), the viewer still sees the real gallery, the work on the walls, and the crowd, with our two avatars standing right in front of them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We square up, talk a little trash, and the bell rings. The viewer takes us on tag-team style: one of us fights while the other heckles from the side, then we switch (open to your ideas).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The viewer throws punches with the Quest controllers. We dodge, block, counter, and react to hits based on where and how hard they land.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Two or three short rounds, then a final bell and an end card with the book title. The headset view is cast to a large screen so the gallery crowd can watch.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Scope<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Must-haves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Two rigged avatars, me and Mint, that move convincingly: guard, jabs, hooks, slips, blocks, hit reactions, a knockdown<ul><li>Solid boxing feel: hit detection on head and body, punch speed thresholds, haptics, impact sounds<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Hit reactions that respond to where punches land (active ragdoll or similar)<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Simple round structure with bell, timer, and a loop that resets for the next viewer<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Runs standalone on Quest in passthrough mixed reality, stable for hours of public use<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Casting to an external screen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nice-to-haves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Our own recorded voice lines and taunts<ul><li>Custom motion capture of our moves, replacing stock animations<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A simple score or knockdown counter shown on the gallery screen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Look and feel<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stylized, not photorealistic. The avatars should feel like an extension of our artwork and the book, not a generic sports game. There&#8217;s no virtual environment to build: the real gallery and the art on its walls are the backdrop. Each avatar can start from a phone scan or be a stylized character built from reference; I&#8217;m open to your recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Technical notes<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Platform:<\/strong> Meta Quest, standalone (no PC tether)<ul><li><strong>Engine:<\/strong> Unity with the Meta XR SDK preferred; open to Unreal if you make a strong case<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>Play space:<\/strong> roughly 8 x 8 ft cleared, with an attendant on site<\/li><\/ul><ul><li><strong>Assets I provide:<\/strong> artwork, book graphics, reference photos, and scans of both of us if useful<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rights:<\/strong> I own the final project files and source, for exhibition and future use<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>Timeline and deliverables<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The show opens in New York on November 17, 2026, so this is a fast four-week build. To hit the date, we&#8217;ll keep it lean: phone scans and stock animations are fine, and anything beyond the must-haves only happens if there&#8217;s time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Prototype (by Nov 1):<\/strong> both avatars standing in the room via passthrough, basic punching and hit reactions, playable in the headset<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Core build (by Nov 8):<\/strong> full fighting behavior, rounds, sound, haptics, tuning passthrough for the gallery&#8217;s lighting and space<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Testing (Nov 9 to 13):<\/strong> sessions with real people, tuning difficulty and comfort, stability fixes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Install (Nov 14 to 16):<\/strong> on-site setup, casting, and a short handoff so gallery staff can run it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Final deliverables are the installed Quest build, the Unity project source, and a one-page operating guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><\/a>What to send back<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Links or video of Quest projects you&#8217;ve shipped, ideally physical or combat-based<ul><li>Your availability: kickoff is the week of October 19, so you&#8217;d need to start right away<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>A rough estimate, fixed price or hourly, for the must-haves<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Anything in this brief you&#8217;d do differently Contact: Jason Wall, <a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/serfberg\">@serfberg<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than a cash fee, I&#8217;m offering this as an art trade: the developer would receive an original Mint+Serf artwork and a copy of my new book,\u00a0\u00a0along with credit in the show, the book launch, and all documentation of the installation. It&#8217;s a chance to have a piece shown at a New York gallery opening on November 17, plus an original work from us to keep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Box Me: VR Installation \u2014 Developer Brief The project I&#8217;m looking for a Unity VR developer to build a Meta Quest boxing experience for a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-call","category-exhibit","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23892,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23891\/revisions\/23892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/opportunities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}