immersive

Onedome global immersive experiences - the unreal garden (augmented reality experience) 2018

Type: The Unreal Garden. A 20,000 square foot experience blending augmented reality (AR) technology and art in a flagship location in San Francisco.

Client: Onedome Global Immersive Experiences

Date: June 2018 - August 2018

Description: Managed end to end product development, user testing, review cycles, and delivery of a beta launch of the Unreal Garden for a location based augmented reality (AR) entertainment startup. The challenge was to integrate 3D art from a network of artists into a custom web-editor that could be dynamically edited in the Hololens app and streamed to the public. We then built a physical space including, plants and water features, structures, lighting, projection mapping, and sound design into a fully immersive experience within a 3 month timeframe.

I created a sprint production cycle and managed the communication across engineering, design + animation, marketing, stage production, and user-testing teams. I also worked with external agencies to build the company website, research and select the Point of Sale, Ticketing, and CRM system. I supported the executive team in planning, brand strategy, and solutions related to all things digital.

california academy of sciences - Worldviews Network, 2010 - 2012

The Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences. Photo: Paul Grimmer.

Bob Raynolds at The Gates Planetarium, Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Photo: Ka Chun Yu

Our story templates explored topics across spatial, temporal, and spectral scales. Image: Ned Gardiner

Gray whale migration patterns in Uniview. From "Earth, Migrations, and the Human Effect" production. American Museum of Natural History.

Mt. Everest Base Camp. Pano-bubble photo: Tito.

We created 11 custom planetarium shows and live events with partner institutions.

Presenters tell the story while operators "fly" through the datasets in real time. Audiences stay for a dialogue afterwards. Robin Grossinger, Healy Hamilton, and Ryan Wyatt from the "Valley Oaks" program, California Academy of Sciences.

Opening ceremony with Bolivian and Sioux indigenous delegates. From "Where Condor Meets Eagle", Augsberg Native American Film Series festival, Minnesota.

GeoDome Theater by design company, the Elumenati. Worldviews shows were held in both full dome and portable immersive environments.

Type: A national network of 10 science centers and planetariums, 11 full-dome planetarium shows and live events, and a series of online program kits and digital products (2010 - 2013).

Collaborators: National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), California Academy of Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, The Elumenati, WGBH Educational Foundation.

Description: The Worldviews Network is a nation-wide collaboration of scientists, artists, and educators using immersive visualization technology to engage communities about global environmental change and resilience.

Role & Duties: Production Manager

Assisted in the creation and maintenance of a new production pipeline with a distributed production team integrating geospatial data and live presentations for digital immersive environments.
Was the point of contact for science center staff, assisting in advisory board development, data acquisition, and event coordination.
Led and recorded weekly production meetings, recorded action items from rehearsals, managed calendars and the project website.
Assisted in data visualization using GIS and Google Earth and open source software to research, test, and manage geospatial data for technical staff to render in digital immersive environments.
Supervised subcontractors and interns.
Assisted in grant writing, budgeting, and reporting to funding agencies.

Support: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The core team represented 5 institutions: The Denver Museum of Nature & Science, The California Academy of Sciences, WGBH, The Elumenati design and engineering firm, and NOAA's Climate Program Office. 10 science centers, distributed across the c… — The core team represented 5 institutions: The Denver Museum of Nature & Science, The California Academy of Sciences, WGBH, The Elumenati design and engineering firm, and NOAA's Climate Program Office. 10 science centers, distributed across the country made up the network. Visit the Worldviews About page for more info.

california academy of sciences - valley oaks: an ecological journey through time, 2011

Type: Production of 40 minute full dome immersive program. 2 live screenings and community dialogues with 520+ people in the Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences. Part of the Worldviews Network program.

Date: December 8, 2011

Collaborators: Worldviews Network, San Francisco Estuary Institute, California Academy of Sciences.

Description: The presentation was an immersive journey from the canopy to the cosmos exploring the history and ecology of one of California's most iconic and threatened tree species, the Valley Oak. California Academy scientists, indigenous partners, and historical ecologists from the San Francisco Estuary Institute reveal how Valley Oaks and humans are intertwined in a relationship of disturbance and adaptation, with implications for the health and well-being of Bay Area communities.

Role & Duties: Production Manager

Data visualization: data acquisition and management. Integrating geospatial data and imagery into 3d software and realtime production.
Production coordination of technical team and project leads during production, rehearsals, and live event.
Scriptwriting, storyboarding.
Convened and acted as the main point of contact between an advisory board of scientists, NGO's, and indigenous partners and the project team.
Managed production schedule and tasks between project leads and the technical team; including location scouting and filming.
Event coordination and facilitation of 2 screenings and 2 community dialogues for 520+ people.
Audience evaluation.
Grant writing and successfully received additional funding from Yahoo to expand our collaboration and increase the impact of the event.

Support: NOAA, Yahoo Employee Foundation, Christensen Fund

The Story (raw excerpts)

Trees have long symbolized the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. Photo: Tim Horn.

Valley Oaks are some of the longest living species of trees on the planet and are only found in California.

Primary productivity (green) represents the Earth's forests "breathing" energy in and out with the seasons.

Biological diversity in California is mirrored by the cultural and linguistic diversity of indigenous peoples living here.

Valley Oaks provided essential resources for California native peoples and continue today. Photo: M. Kat Anderson

Groves of Valley Oaks were tended to by native families over generations, influencing entire ecosystems.

We explore different habitat types along the Napa River as they might have been in the 1850's, zooming in on Valley Oak savannas (yellow) digitized by SFEI.

We zoom ahead in time and examine a 1942 aerial photograph of a farm in the Napa Valley, noticing a few oaks.

Fade to the same area in 2009 and the oaks give way to agriculture.

Valley Oaks persist and remain resilient to development and other stressors. SFEI proposes a strategy to "re-oak" the landscape in Napa.

We zoom into and "land" in a 300+ year old Valley Oak grove in the township of Oak Knoll and layer photos taken of that same grove in 1906. Property owners play a role in stewardship and protection.

Today, regional planners in Napa County consider "re-oaking" as a strategy to bring oaks back into developed areas.

Can we plan where to focus restoration and "re-oaking" efforts today to ensure Valley Oak resilience in the future under climate change? Habitat suitability models were generated using museum records and future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios by the Hamilton lab.

Re-oaking brings together native and western world views; benefiting Valley Oak ecosystems and the human communities that rely on them. Photo: Brent Johnson, NPS.

The Production Process

The San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) is an environmental research organization with a wealth of digitized information about what past ecosystems looked like. They wanted to explore new ways to share that information with stakeholders and new audiences.

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The challenge was to sift through the Historical Ecology program's data and imagery to find a region where we could tell the most consistent story, and an iconic species that could be used to convey ecological themes that are relevant for our audiences. Photo: SFEI

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Robin Grossinger and Chuck Striplen were our main collaborators. Here, they measure a 200+ year old Valley Oak on the Trefethen Family Vineyard. This tree became our "main character" and the Napa Valley became our "setting".

Bringing the rich qualities of this digitized Spanish "diseno" map (depicting the broad extent of "roblas"/Oaks in black) into the immersive dome was a challenge. Credit: SFEI.

Our goal was to use historic imagery and data to convey the dominant presence Valley Oaks once had on the landscape and the role they played in the ecosystem. Photo: SFEI.

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We assembled an advisory board (not all pictured here) comprised of academics, visualization experts, tribal members, policy makers and ecologists to develop our story and shape the event.

Tim Horn taking panoramic photos of an ancient oak grove used as a backdrop in the immersive dome for a series of historic photos.

Robin Grossinger, his son Joey, and Chuck Striplen from SFEI referencing historical photos.

Kat Collaco digitized Valley Oak herbarium sheets from the California Academy of Science's collections to be used in the production.

Academy docent, Ted Olsson "georeferenced" historic locations written on Valley Oak herbarium sheets. The data were incorporated into models projecting the impact of climate change on Valley Oak species in the future.

We worked with Dr. Healy Hamilton and her lab in the Center for Applied Biodiversity Informatics at the Academy to produce maps of the projected range of Valley Oaks under 2 greenhouse gas emissions scenarios and to identify suitable areas for re-oaking efforts.

Our distributed production team spent many late nights, working on GoogleDocs, speaking over Skype, testing data via "dome casting", across 3 time zones to make it happen.

The Event

Worldviews core team, members of the Visualization Studio, and Valley Oak advisors and partners from SFEI (not all shown).

2 screenings in the Morrison Planetarium and 2 facilitated dialogues were given to more than 520 people during the Academy's NightLife after hours event. Photo: California Academy of Sciences

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Robin Grossinger (SFEI), Ryan Wyatt, and Healy Hamilton (CAS) narrated live while Tim Horn operated the controls in real time.

We held 2 facilitated discussions with audiences after the screenings; one given to Valley Oak stakeholders and the other to adult audiences attending NightLife.

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Scott Gabaldon (Mishewal Wappo), Nick Tipon (Coast Miwok), Valentin Lopez (Amah Mutsun Ohlone) and friends. Tribal attendance to a program had never been experienced at the Academy before.

Handmade Valley Oak acorn "cakelettes" by Jolie Egert Elan of GoWild were given to the audience after the screenings.

california academy of sciences - Living maps: from cosmos to community, 2011

Type: Production of full dome immersive program from the Worldviews Network Living Maps presentation (video recording)

Date: September 2011.

Collaborators: Worldviews Network, National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center, Land of Sky Regional Council (Asheville, NC)

Description: Living Maps: From Cosmos to Community explores the conditions and systems that support complex life, from the outer edges of the solar system to the communities in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. 3 screenings and discussions were hosted with audiences who represent an array of regional governmental, planning, NGO, and academic institutions tasked to develop regional and local strategies for sustainable development. For more information see Worldviews.net/living-maps/

Roles & Duties: Production Manager

Production coordination of a distributed production team, data visualization: data acquisition and management. Integrating geospatial data and imagery into 3d software and realtime production.
Production coordination of technical team and project leads during production, rehearsals, and live event.
Storyboarding and scriptwriting, asset research, acquisition, and management.
Acted as the main point of contact for science center staff and production team.
Led and recorded weekly production meetings, recorded action items from rehearsals, managed calendars and the project website.

California Academy of Sciences - redwood forests and climate change 3d experiments, 2009

Type: 3D animation sequence for online and immersive platforms.

Collaborators: Center for Applied Biodiversity Informatics (CABI) and the Visualization Studio at the California Academy of Sciences, Save the Redwoods League

Date: December 2009

Description: An animation experiment between biologists, computer scientists, and GIS technicians in the CABI lab and technical directors in the Visualization Studio at the California Academy of Sciences. Historic, present, and future habitat ranges of Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests were modeled using 16 global circulation models (GCM's) into the year 2100 under 2 greenhouse gas emissions scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th Assessment Report. Under an "optimistic" (B1) outcome, in which CO2 levels in the atmosphere remain low, much of the current coast redwood habitat remains. Under a "pessimistic" (A2) outcome, in which we continue emitting greenhouse gasses at the current rate, much of the current habitat for coast redwood is no longer suitable. This experiment to visualize Earth based data in an immersive software platform led to the development of new interactive products and new kinds of live public programing about biodiversity science, conservation, and climate change at the museum.

Roles & Duties: Production Coordinator

Data visualization using GIS to visualize and export climate and habitat data into Uniview, a 3D software used to display data in 360° immersive environments.
Coordinated technical directors and research experts to accurately render and animate the sequence.
Storyboarding and asset research and acquisition.