The VR film is housed in helmets made from materials like cardboard, chia moss to mimic bat fur, and gum leaves to replicate the bats’ habitat. This design allows the audience to smell, touch, and hear the bats, creating a deeply immersive experience and a seamless connection between the VR headset and the physical environment.
The film includes a particle system of 3D scans of trees near the bats and assets closely related to Otway Forest vegetation. It first introduces the bats, then transitions to a bat’s perspective, seeing the world through echolocation. By using point cloud and particle system animations of the tree scans, the data is manipulated based on the bats’ sensory features.
This designed experience near the bats allows us to hear their noisy communication, smell their musty sulfur essence and guano, and feel their presence in the air. Through echolocation, participants strip down their vision and see the world through the eyes of the bats.
The process involves:
- Eco walking in at the Yarra Bend Park and Otway Forest
- Sound recording
- 3D scan of trees at the forest
- Convert FBX scan to point cloud and particles system and animate materials, working with Blender , TouchDesigner and Unreal Engine