When the new generation of VR became available for developers around 2013, me and my former team started to brainstorm about the potential of these headsets and what we would be able to accomplish with them.
Around that same period, a request came in to transform a local building ,that had been sitting vacant for over 15 years due to a fire, into a tourist attraction. We immediately opted to make an experience using these new VR headsets, and the concepting began.
Being located in the dutch town of Volendam, we decided it would be a great idea to involve the towns history in this experience, since it was rich of stories. The one that peaked our interest the most was the great flood of 1916, when a dyke collapsed during a storm and flooded the town and a large surrounding area.
Together with elders from the village, who possess large amounts of photographs from that era, we started building an overview of what the town looked like back then.
Using a greybox approach (simple geometry to block out a map) we were able to determine where we wanted to position the viewers during the events of the experience whilst simultaniously map out what could be seen and the accompanying level of detail.
To really immerse the viewer, we combined the 3D world with live-action actors. These actors were recorded in a greenscreen studio and using our own fabricated stereoscopic camera setup we could preview their performance directly in the set using VR.
The result is an experience that takes the visitor back in time. The interior of the building is transformed into an old street, and the VR viewing area is set up as a boat, where 32 attendants can watch the experience simultaniously.
In the experience they relive the events of the flood, together with your shipman ‘Jan’, who is desperately searching for his financé ‘Maria’.
