3D Art Gallery Development: Use Cases, Features & Process

As new technology and market trends are transforming the art world, 3D art galleries, also known as virtual or immersive galleries, are opening up new opportunities for art lovers, artists, curators, and businesses. 

 

For instance, Onix helped a Swiss metaverse solutions provider create a virtual art space on the Spatial.io platform. Users can explore a collection of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), access supplementary information and materials, and purchase digital artworks right on Spatial.

A virtual 3D art gallery like this, designed and implemented by Onix, can showcase and sell physical and digital artworks.

 

The client intended to expand their global reach by offering compelling immersive environments for advertising. Onix’s creations gained significant traction on the Spatial platform with 16.2K views.

 

“This demonstrates the effectiveness of our immersive environments in capturing an audience,” said Vasiliy Dyachenko, the head of Onix’s 3D art department. 

In this article, you can learn:

 

• the benefits of immersive art galleries for organizations, visitors, and artists
• how to create a 3D art gallery like Onix’s virtual gallery demo
• how much it may cost

 

Whether you need to showcase your artwork online or want a full-blown commercial virtual art gallery software, please don’t hesitate to contact Onix. We are experts in creating virtual spaces.

Use Cases for 3D Art Gallery Software

A 3D art gallery is a digital representation of a physical gallery or exhibition space. It should create a three-dimensional, immersive, and interactive experience for art lovers while furthering the owner’s and/or artist’s purposes. 

 

For instance, galleries, artists, and entrepreneurs can:

 

• Create dedicated exhibitions or entire virtual art galleries 
• Exhibit 2D artworks (e.g., paintings, photographs, posters, etc.), 3D artworks, such as sculptures or installations, videos, and audio

• Sell and auction physical artworks or NFTs online
• Recreate existing exhibitions in real-world buildings in a virtual world or create virtual-only galleries from scratch, bringing the creator’s boldest ideas to life
• Create a separate web application or embed a virtual gallery or exhibition on your existing website and share a URL link to it on social media
• Run the virtual gallery on your own or let others use the virtual space for their purposes

The latter implies inviting visitors by sharing links to your website. The website owner may also allow customers to customize their virtual spaces, e.g., use their branding, adjust the lighting position, angle, and intensity, or import custom materials and textures.

 

The Features of 3D Art Galleries

Here are the core features of a virtual gallery:

 

Immersive experience

3D virtual art gallery software must replicate an existing cultural space in the digital realm or create a brand new virtual art exhibit that users can explore in a way that a traditional webpage or image cannot provide.

Visually appealing and captivating virtual spaces, like this one designed by Onix, enhance user engagement and leave a lasting impression.

 

Digital artwork display

Artworks are positioned on virtual walls, pedestals, or exhibition spaces. Users can click on an artwork or object to zoom in, evaluate details, and learn more about each piece, starting with the title, author, description, provenance, and more.

Read also: How VR Is Changing the Entertainment and Film Industry

 

Interactivity

Ideally, users should be able to walk freely from one virtual room to another, look around in every direction, explore every corner, and view and compare the exhibited artworks at their actual size from any distance or angle. 

 

For instance, for the Swiss metaverse production agency mentioned above, Onix created visually impressive but realistic spaces for advertising and promotion, including:

 

• The Metaverse Academy Campus. This immersive space was aimed to introduce users to the metaverse concept and its significance. It features interactive spaces where users can learn about topics like NFT.
• NFT Art Gallery. In this virtual exhibition space, visitors can view NFT artworks, read detailed descriptions, and access additional resources like PDF documents and videos.
• Paper Location. In this extension of the NFT Art Gallery, each artwork tells its unique story.

  

Onix used advanced technology, realistic graphics, and intricate 3D models to craft various immersive Spatio metaverse spaces.

 

Immersive gallery spaces, digitized or digital artworks, and interactivity features are a bare minimum. Additional features can enhance your immersive gallery experience and perform educational, promotional, or commercial functions. 

 

Educational and informational elements

Creators can enrich the virtual gallery or exhibition experience with:

 

• Guided tours that play either automatically or on demand
• Hotspots to ensure that visitors miss no highlights and effortlessly navigate through the exhibition
• Informational panels, clickable links, or pop-up windows that showcase additional information, photos, and videos to offer insights into the artworks, artists, art history, and exhibitions
• Hyperlinks and audio

 

Virtual reality (VR) mode

Many immersive galleries are fully compatible with VR devices, including VR headsets. Users just need to don their VR headset, open the scene, and select VR mode. 

 

Read also: 5 Best Virtual Reality Headsets for Game Development

 

This compatibility takes the experience to the next level. VR creates the sensation of being physically present in a gallery, museum, temporary exhibit, or another cultural space and enhancing the user’s engagement.

 

Read also: Using Virtual Reality to Transform Museum Exhibits

 

Social interaction features

Some virtual galleries offer the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with other visitors, artists, curators, and others. Galleries can also organize online art openings and other events that bring the art community together in a digital space.

Visitors of the Metaverse Academy Campus built by Onix can attend online conferences, view presentations, and participate in chat and voice discussions.

 

The extension of the NFT art gallery that Onix designed also features a cozy café for video screenings and socializing with fellow art lovers.

 

“Our team ensured uninterrupted live streaming capabilities within the metaverse environments to facilitate online events, conferences, and presentations,” said Serhii Vitukhin, Head of the Unity department at Onix.

 

Read also: VR Meeting App Development: Onix's Insights & Cases

Art sales and collecting

Visitors can purchase artwork directly through the online platform. For example, the NFT art gallery mentioned above facilitates seamless NFT purchases directly within the Spatial.io platform.

 

Onix also developed a 3D gallery demo to showcase the team’s skills, how to use such software, and its potential. For instance, if a client requires it, we would implement payments, a shopping cart, or an online auction functionality. 

Even simple non-VR web art galleries like Onix’s demo can efficiently sell various artworks and goods.  

Some Benefits of Virtual Art Galleries

 

Accessibility

Unlike traditional galleries, which are often in big cities and cater to limited audiences, virtual galleries are open to anyone from anywhere. Moreover, since virtual galleries are available 24/7, viewers can explore a famous art collection or a breakthrough exhibit whenever they want and at their own pace.

 

Global outreach for artists

Virtual art gallery technology also lowers the barriers for emerging artists and curators who might not secure a physical exhibition space.

 

Artists from all backgrounds can showcase their work to worldwide audiences without the usual galleries’ constraints. This opens up new opportunities for all artists and promotes diversity in the art world.

 

New revenue streams

Virtual galleries are uniquely suited for showcasing digital art forms, including the rapidly growing field of NFTs. NFTs offer artists new ways to monetize their creations while expanding the possibilities for artistic expression.

Even small businesses and aspiring curators and artists can afford to build a 3D art gallery like this basic app made by Onix.

 

Creativity and flexibility

3D art galleries can curate and design their collections and exhibitions virtually without the usual geographical, space, and budget limitations. This liberty opens up endless possibilities.

 

Curators can experiment with various presentations and multimedia elements, such as soundscapes, videos, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and interactive features,  and make choices that might not be feasible in a physical gallery.

 

Streamlined art sales

Art enthusiasts and collectors will find online art-buying more accessible, and the NFTs market will appeal to them as a fresh investment avenue. Carefully crafted visualizations that create an emotional connection with the audience also play a significant role in emotional marketing and improve customer retention.

 

Economic and environmental impact

Traditional galleries must maintain physical spaces, pay for utilities, transport artworks, and so forth. Galleries that operate online reduce their operational costs and carbon footprint.

 

Do these advantages sound compelling? Then, let’s get down to the 3D art gallery development process.

How to Create a Digital 3D Art Gallery

3D art gallery development involves several professionals:

 

1. Artists conceptualize and design creative elements, bringing your vision to life.
2. Designers are responsible for modeling, detailing, and other technical aspects to ensure accuracy and functionality.
3. Technicians manage the software and handle rendering tasks.

Read also: Onix 3D Modeling Success Story

Major requirements for 3D art galleries are: 

 

• Realism and quality. A virtual art gallery must offer a sense of space, light, textures, and detail comparable to real-life experiences. Photorealistic rendering techniques like ray tracing and global illumination play a crucial part. User engagement and satisfaction require high-quality visuals. 
• Immersive quality.Immersion is essential for engaging users and for the visual content to achieve its goals.
• Understanding light and material. A deep understanding of material properties, light behavior, and environmental factors is required to simulate real-world conditions as accurately as possible.

 

Onix’s 3D artists and developers are experts at this, as showcased by the Spatio metaverse spaces mentioned above, the Unreal Space VR project, and others.

 

For example, our immersive gallery demo features:

 

• A gallery space complete with textured walls, floors, and architectural details facilitating a realistic and engaging exploration
• Intuitive navigation controls, such as WASD for movement and mouse interactions for easy navigation
• Advanced collision detection to prevent users from passing through walls or objects, maintaining the integrity of the virtual space and a realistic navigation experience
• Details revealed by clicking on paintings
• Ability to toggle between day and night modes that change the gallery’s ambiance

Onix’s web-based art gallery features dynamic lighting conditions.

 

We built the immersive 3D environment with Three.js. This JavaScript library empowers web developers to create detailed and interactive 3D graphics that run smoothly in web browsers without using specialized plugins.

Namely, Three.js facilitates the work with some of the core elements of a 3D art gallery:

 

• Scenes: A scene is a container where objects, lights, cameras, and other elements necessary for a 3D space are placed.
• Cameras: Camera setup defines the perspective from which users will view 3D scenes. Three.js provides various camera types for different use cases and unique perspectives.
• Renderers: The renderer takes the scene and camera and processes them to display 3D content on a webpage. The WebGLRenderer, a commonly used renderer, utilizes WebGL to render scenes with hardware acceleration. Three.js thus allows developers to focus on the creative aspects of 3D design, rather than the technicalities of WebGL programming.
• Geometry: This defines the shape of the objects in the virtual space. Three.js includes a plethora of predefined geometries that help create standard shapes quickly.
• Materials: The color, texture, and their interactions with light define the objects’ appearance and realism.
• Textures: Textures add complexity and detail to materials for a lifelike appearance.
• Lights: Three.js offers various types of lights, like AmbientLight, PointLight, DirectionalLight, etc., to illuminate the scene differently.

3D web development with Three.js includes the following steps:

 

• Scene creation. The developers set up the essential components of a Three.js application, defining the space where 3D artworks and other objects will be placed.We thoroughly planned the structure before setting up our scene and placing the lights.
• Camera setup. Developers choose and implement a camera setup for the project.
• Renderer development. This is basically the generation of a photorealistic image from a 2D or 3D model. Proper renderer development facilitates the accurate display of a 3D scene in a web browser.
• Creation of geometry, material, and texture. Developers create complex 3D objects, apply different materials, and add textures to enhance the scene’s visual appeal.
• Meshing. This process involves creating a mesh — a set of vertices, edges, and faces defining a 3D object’s shape.
• Animation. To bring a 3D scene to life, developers add movement to objects, creating dynamic and engaging 3D experiences for users.
• User interaction. Developers implement controls for users to interact with the 3D objects and navigate the scene.
• Real-time user interface (UI) configuration. Developers fine-tune a 3D scene with real-time UI configuration to ensure the 3D gallery looks and functions as required. A GUI debugger is employed to adjust various aspects of the scene and objects.

VR support can be added to enable users with VR devices to immerse themselves in the 3D art gallery fully.

In the current version of the product, the developer adds each artwork manually. A commercial 3D art gallery software will enable the curator/manager to choose images from a collection and resize, rotate, or scale them before placing them on the virtual wall.

Virtual galleries like Onix’s web app may provide functionalities for managing virtual spaces, content, and online sales.

A major challenge during Onix’s 3D art gallery development was to find the balance when choosing the number of polygons in a 3D model or the texture quality. We wanted it to look good while maintaining a high frame-per-second rate and avoiding lags on low-end devices. 

It was essential to optimize how models were loaded since it often had the biggest impact on performance. This meant using compressed textures, caching to avoid loading the same model multiple times, lazy loading, loaders, and instances for efficient rendering of large numbers of identical objects.

 

Other technologies used for Onix’s virtual gallery development included Vue.js, TypeScript, and CSS/CSS2/CSS3.

 

How Much Does It Cost to Build Virtual Art Gallery Software?

The time required to create a virtual art space varies depending on the complexity of the project and the desired level of detail. These factors impact the primary component of the project cost equation: Cost = Time X Developers’ hourly rate

For instance, Onix’s 3D art gallery demo took 140 man/hours to complete. With Onix’s hourly rate of $37, this translates into $5,180.

Leveraging the right 3D visualization software and advanced techniques helps ensure project completion on time and within budget, saving costs in the long run.

Efficient workflow management and resource allocation are also crucial to cost-effective virtual gallery development. Optimizing resources involves optimal software tools, efficient rendering techniques, and competent personnel. For this, you need a team of professionals like Onix.

Unreal Space is another project showcasing Onix’s varied tech skills and meticulous attention to detail in modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering. 

 

Conclusion

Art spaces are no longer confined to brick-and-mortar buildings. Artists and curators are exploring the benefits of virtual art galleries for more creative, immersive, narrative-driven exhibitions. Their potential for global reach and integration of digital art forms makes virtual galleries a powerful tool in the ever-changing art market.

 

Faster rendering technologies, better 3D architectural visualization software, improved real-time visualization tools, and artificial intelligence integration will drive future developments in 3D virtual art gallery software.

 

Read also: How AI Enables XR Experiences: Guide by Onix

 

It’s no longer a question of whether virtual art gallery technology will be a part of the art world but how it will evolve to shape the future of the arts and art industry. If you want to be part of the revolution, you need a reliable partner. Contact Onix right now!

 

FAQ

 

How to approach creating a virtual 3D art gallery?

The 3D art gallery development process includes the following steps: 

 

1. Establishing clear goals and requirements: For example, whether an application should sell a product or service, entice viewers into a real-world place, or educate audiences determines the required level of realism, whether the app should include eCommerce functionality and other features, etc.
2. Gathering resources and references: Collecting these materials helps ensure accurate modeling, as the human eye naturally spots errors in familiar objects and scenes.
3. Modeling and texturing: When creating 3D models and applying textures, developers must ensure that all models are accurate and detailed and that materials are physically correct. They often use computer-aided design software to ensure precision.
4. Lighting and rendering: Setting up lighting and rendering the scenes is essential for realism. Render engines like V-Ray are used to calculate lights, shadows, reflections, etc.
5. Post-processing and adjustments: The visuals are refined to achieve the desired quality and meet the project requirements set in Step 1.

What are the challenges of implementing a virtual art gallery?

 

• The digital format. It may be challenging to replicate the physical and emotional connection that often comes with viewing and interacting with art in person.
• Digital divide. People with low-speed internet or outdated technology might struggle to engage with virtual exhibits properly.
• Ethical considerations. 3D galleries must adhere to data privacy and security standards, copyright laws, and intellectual property rights. Algorithmic bias in AI-driven art curation and presentation is a growing threat to ethical engagement with art and technology.

Is it possible to make 3D modeling absolutely real?

True realism is unattainable with the current web development with Three.js, but there is a workaround. Instead of precisely calculating each ray of light, we can trick the user’s perception.  

 

Well-thought-out uniform lighting and shadows, objects instantly responding to user actions, and nuances like smooth animation, depth of field, or minor digital noise make the brain dismiss rasterization and simplified shaders behind the scenes and perceive the virtual as real.

PBR pipeline (MeshPhysicalMaterial with metalness, roughness, normal, and ambient occlusion maps), HDR environments with PMREM, ACESFilmic tone mapping and sRGB output, high-quality cascading shadows, and sophisticated post-effects like bloom, SSAO, and DOF can help achieve an emotionally convincing experience directly in the browser.

Which is the better, budget-friendly option for a 3D art gallery – no-code or Three.js?

It depends on your vision.

 

If you want to create a full-fledged virtual art space without any regular HTML pages, no-code tools will be useless: they are not designed for that (yet) and, therefore, can’t help you create a web page without coding knowledge quickly and cheaply. If you envision your gallery as a regular website with interactive 3D elements, you’d better opt for no-code tools + Three.js.

What would be the best/easiest way to build a 3D art gallery that you can run around in and interact with?

It depends on your requirements. If you want a 3D space with exhibits and the ability to move around, using A-Frame (a Three.js add-on with declarative HTML-like syntax) is the fastest and easiest way to enable walking through a 3D gallery and viewing the exhibits.

If you want more interaction with exhibits, when something is clicked, opened, rotated, etc., or physical actions are required, then Babylon.js would do the job.