Experience the interactive world of Pandora and be part of an immersive adventure

 

This project is a short fan fiction, sci-fi and fantasy Virtual Reality adventure. It is an immersive experience of a re-imagined Avatar Film (2009) by James Cameron.1 The main character, the participant, is called "Prober". The Prober is the one studying the environment of the alien world of Pandora. The mission is to ensure the survival of the colony by learning about the plants, trees, animals, and the environment.


Figure 1

        Source Image Courtesy of Walt Disney World Resort 2017 [The World of Avatar]

 

My goal with this project is to create an immersive experience of the alien world using virtual reality. I was inspired by the Avatar film as it is creative and the most visually appealing film.

This project explores the impact of Virtual Reality to the audience, as a new medium of entertainment. Virtual reality can give the audience the opportunity to be an active participant in the virtual world. Through this project, I am reimagining the other side of the story of the world of Pandora by engaging in the environment from a different perspective, without affecting the original storyline.

The purpose of this project is to understand the use of Virtual Reality (VR) as a medium for Science Fiction and Fantasy genre. Also, it is about exploring the idea of transporting the audience to an enchanted world using this technology and have a positive experience.


Why virtual reality?

“Virtual Reality (VR) is a completely new way of engaging with people. It is a new way of telling stories and transporting people to other worlds. It is able to give people the experience of doing or feeling something like they were actually somewhere else.” -  Henry Stuart, CEO of Visualise [Virtual Reality Marketing].2

This resonated with me for my project. The world of Pandora is a fantasy world and does not exist in reality. Virtual Reality is a powerful technology which made it possible to experience that world and engage in the story.


Who is the Audience?

The audience will be people who enjoy the fantasy genre. The age is around 18-40 years old. It is for people who like to see something different from reality and see something creative and visually engaging.


What do I want people to do, feel and see?

The concept was to create a side quest inspired by the film. The story I created is just my personal direction and not a part of the original film. This project will revolve around the story of a prober who studies the environment of the alien world of Pandora. This includes discovering new species of plants, trees, and animals. It is set during night time, where the plants are bioluminescent and interactive, giving the impression that the plants are real. Some plants can be picked up for studying, used as light sources like a torch, produce sounds or can be consumed. The animals will be the flying and spinning lizard that illuminates at night.3

Figure 2

          Source Image Courtesy of fandom.com 2020 [The World of Avatar]


How to execute an immersive experience?

To create this experience:

1     I need to use Unity for immersive experience.
2.       Blender for 3D modeling of the environment.
3.       Photoshop and Illustrator for graphic design for graphic user interface.

Project Schedule Timeline:





































 

List of Sources:

Figure 1: The World of Avatar, Walt Disney World Resort 2017 https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/04/creative-collaboration-key-to-designing-new-merchandise-for-pandora-the-world-of-avatar/

Figure 2: The World of Avatar, fandom.com 2020 https://james-camerons-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Fan_Lizard?file=Fanlizard-flying.jpg

 

References:

  1. Avatar (2009) Directed by J. Cameron [DVD] United States. 2oth Centuries Studio.
  2. Stuart, H. (2018) Virtual Reality Marketing. 1st edn. Kogan Page.
  3. Wilhelm, M. and Mathison, D. (2009) James Cameron’s Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide. USA, It Books. https://james-camerons-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/James_Cameron%27s_Avatar:_An_Activist_Survival_Guide

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