starosek - Personal Project

Software used: Polycam on iPhone 15 Pro Max, Blender v. 3.5.1

project summary

Research question: How can scanned personal objects be transformed into perceptual environments through scale, material, and spatial recontextualization?

This project explored how personal scanned objects could be transformed into perceptual environments through digital reconstruction and recontextualization. Using Polycam scans and Blender, I created a series of experimental scenes that manipulated scale, material, lighting, and spatial organization in order to shift familiar objects into psychologically ambiguous environments.

process

Initial Polycam scans imported into Blender:

Exploration of objects' properties and possible relationships: 

final results

Scene 1

Parameters: scale, spatial organization

This scene explores how scale and isolation can transform familiar objects into psychologically distant forms. Familiar domestic and personal objects are placed within a reflective, dark environment that simultaneously suggests intimacy and detachment. The reflective surface creates a sense of psychological distance while amplifying the objects' spatial isolation.

Scene 2

Parameters: scale, spatial organization

This experiment was a true lucky find once I took a closer look at the failed scan of a flower on my patio, which came out flattened and curved. The grooves in the rotated mesh worked perfectly as terrain, which I used to create a desert-like environment with everyday makeup products organized spatially into architectural elements. I added volumetric fog to play into the dry appearance of the environment.

Scene 3

Parameters: scale, spatial organization, material/texture

This experiment focuses on transforming scanned objects into monumental alien forms through scale, material manipulation, and isolation. The arrangement emphasizes uncertainty around the object’s scale, function, and material identity. Darkness and negative space are employed to invite interpretation.

reflections

This project explored how 3D scanning and digital reconstruction could be used to create environments that remain open to interpretation rather than communicating a single fixed meaning. Using Polycam and Blender, I manipulated scanned personal objects through scale, spatial composition, lighting, and material changes in order to shift them away from their familiar contexts.

One of the most important discoveries during the process was that imperfections in the scans often strengthened the work. Distortions, incomplete geometry, and unstable textures introduced ambiguity, making the environments feel less literal and more interpretive. Instead of correcting these artifacts, I began incorporating them into the visual language of the scenes.

Several scenes were explored through camera movement and animation in order to study how motion informs spatial perception. I also became more aware of how strongly material and environmental choices affect emotional interpretation. Reflective surfaces, darkness, fog, and isolation altered how the scanned objects were perceived, creating a tension between familiarity and detachment. The constructed environments themselves became more important than the individual objects.

Technically, the project became an introduction to a larger workflow involving Polycam scanning, mesh manipulation, material experimentation, lighting, rendering, and camera movement in Blender. Because much of the learning happened during production, experimentation and troubleshooting became a central part of the process itself.

Overall, the project shifted from simply reconstructing scanned objects toward building atmospheric spatial studies from them. The final scenes function less as representations of physical environments and more as studies in atmosphere, scale, and interpretation.