Description
Memory is not an objective record of reality, but a subjective and selective process. Memories reshape and reconciliate over time.
This is a memory exploration experiment conducted by Li using various technology including Lidar scanning, point cloud, particle simulation, projection mapping, machine learning and VR. Images, audio recordings, 3D scans were curated and fed to the machine to generate immersive experiences of memories.
After having a field trip guided by Provides Ng from Current introducing the history of public housing estate buildings in Chang Sha Wan, Li uses Lidar scan and point cloud technology to preserve a part of an old building which is about to be torn down with his teammate Habibi Wang. The scene is designed by Li and built in Unreal Engine 5, which is a real-time 3D rendering engine that can be accessed through VR.
Li believes old building/urban space is part of people’s collective memory. For people who don’t really live in that specific time and space, they can only know these history from archive photos or hearing the stories told by elder people. In this project, he manages to transform collective memories of residents of Chang Sha Wan into an immersive experience in VR for the audience to feel what it is like to be present in that specific time and space.
My eyes twinkle with bewilderment and my mind is stunned in amazement at how beautiful your cinematic is! The fluid movement of the light particles are like electric brain synapses coming together to form a mental picture. I’d love to see this is in VR!
It’s quite fascinating how technology can be used to explore and preserve that which surrounds us. Who knew that capturing the past would create a new experience for the present!
Will this be part of an ongoing project to preserve the remnants of history? How would you implement audio recordings into this VR space? Would it be the sounds of nature and/or the narration of a storyteller?
The colors are so beautiful! I’m a sucker for RGB, and was soooo tempted to use a rainbow pallet in my submission. I had to restrain myself to using a set color scheme so I didn’t make a mess of things. Having the black environment is honestly perfect for it because there’s nothing the particles are competing with for the viewers attention.
If you have a chance to check out my submission, I’d love your thoughts!
Yeah I will put sounds in it. Mostly ambience/soundscape. I had experience making multichannel audio soundscape (for example 5.1 surround sound). Still figuring out how to implement this into the Unreal Engine.
thats so sick! how were you able to animate the point clouds? i think it’s not doable in UE5, unless you use the AzurePointCloud plugin. Or were you able to add niagara system on top of the point clouds to give the illusion?