INSIDE TUMUCUMAQUE - A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE

Short List
TitleINSIDE TUMUCUMAQUE - A VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE
BrandINTERACTIVE MEDIA FOUNDATION GGMBH
Product/ServiceN/A
Category A02. Digital Illustration
Entrant ARTIFICIAL ROME Berlin, GERMANY
Idea Creation INTERACTIVE MEDIA FOUNDATION Berlin, GERMANY
Idea Creation 2 ARTIFICIAL ROME Berlin, GERMANY
Production ARTIFICIAL ROME Berlin, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Diana Schniedermeier Interactive Media Foundation gGmbH Managing Director
Ina Krüger Interactive Media Foundation gGmbH Creative Director
Patrik de Jong Artificial Rome GmbH Creative Director
Dirk Hoffmann Artificial Rome GmbH Managing Director
Dirk Hoffmann Artificial Rome GmbH Managing Director
Robert Werner Artificial Rome GmbH Art Director
Nico Alexander Taniyama Artificial Rome GmbH Art Director 3D Lead
Christian Rambow Artificial Rome GmbH 3D Artist
Dana Würzburg Artificial Rome GmbH 3D Artist
Sebastian Hein Artificial Rome GmbH Developer
Dennis Timmermann Artificial Rome GmbH Developer
Hui-Yuan Tien Artificial Rome GmbH Developer
Christian Barth Akkord Arbeiter Sound Designer
Julian Ferreira da Silva Akkord Arbeiter Sound Designer
Florian Köhler Interactive Media Foundation gGmbH Project Manager
Jochen Watral Artificial Rome GmbH Managing Director
Kristin Sperling Artificial Rome GmbH Project Manager
Michael Grotenhoff Interactive Media Foundation gGmbH Producer
Saskia Kress Interactive Media Foundation gGmbH Managing Director

Describe the creative idea

Take an expedition into the virtual Amazon and fly above the forest canopy with the harpy eagle, zoom along with the poison dart frog, wade through the water with caiman, and crawl across the jungle floor with the goliath spider. Inside Tumucumaque is a virtual reality experience that transports viewers inside a stylized realtime rendering of the largest tropical forest reserve on the planet to explore from a local’s perspective. Ultraviolet color spectra, super slow motion, visualizations of echo sounder locations and colour night vision as well as spatial 3D sound, are used to interpret the perception of animals as a sensual experience comprehensible for humans.

Describe the execution

Our partners traveled to Tumumuque Mountains National Park in Brazil to film the Amazon rainforest in all its splendor. The stunning footage they captured served as the primary reference materials for the models and textures used in our 3D animations populating the tremendous 400 hectare virtual expanse. All the visual elements present in Inside Tumucumaque are fully computer-generated and were meticulously crafted by hand. Most of the textures utilized in the renderings began as watercolor paintings. The paintings were scanned and applied to 3D models. Hundreds of models were scrutinized for accuracy. The illustrative style references natural science lexica. Scientifically supported by experts of the MfN Berlin, we recreated this hidden world. The three-story, interactive installation premiered on 6 April 2018 at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe. The exhibition was the latest in the center’s ongoing series titled “The Art of Immersion”, a program featuring contemporary work in the field of visualization and immersive experiences. Visitors to the space were invited to step into a simulated environment and undergo a multisensory transformation of their reality. Using the latest possibilities of VR, science and research can be made sensually tangible in a previously unknown manner by immersive plunge in realistic simulated environments. As an immersive empathy tool the VR Experience awakens curiosity and interest in scientific knowledge and contributes to a deeper understanding of the endangered biodiversity on our planet.