Immersive design is on a rapid rise. Not only in the game and film industry, but in more and more sectors immersive design is being applied. Based on its experience with game technology and audiovisual technology, SintLucas is playing a pioneering role, together with other intermediate vocational schools and companies, in integrating this technology into education. David Buzzi, lecturer in 3D and animation, explains how this takes shape in practice.
Immersive design
To start at the beginning, what is immersive design? David: “Immersive means immersive. Immersive design is a collective term for technologies that ‘immerse’ someone in an experience. And that’s more than just putting on VR or AR glasses. It’s about combining as many technologies as possible to give a 365-degree experience. That includes, for example, sensors to feel cold or wind – all senses are engaged. With immersive design, you draw people into a story even more. Watching a film on a screen is very passive, with VR goggles you have a pair of glasses on your head, with an escaperoom the experience is physical, but you miss an epic landscape with, for example, dragons and other creatures. By bringing these together, you can create a realistic overall experience where you are immersed in the story. However, bringing them together requires a different workflow and different people than if you use these technologies separately. Where many data visualisations were the work of 2D designers, now it becomes an interactive experience.”
Collaborate
David explains that cooperation is the key word when it comes to the development of immersive design: “The Metaverse Werkplaats is a Netherlands-wide consortium to promote and bring new technology into education. We are affiliated to this with several vocational schools and companies. The Netherlands is relatively small and budgets are usually not that big, the consortium offers the chance to jointly explore new technologies. Subsidies have also been applied for to set up workshops and train teachers, for instance. We are at the front end of developments, but do not yet know where they are going, so knowledge sharing is very important and we need each other.”
Within SintLucas, immersive design leads to more cooperation in multidisciplinary teams. Whereas the courses AV specialist and Digital design & motion, for example, still work fairly separately from each other, cooperation is necessary to arrive at an immersive product. The development of immersive design is a great opportunity to build something new together from the ground up.” The optional immersive design course initiated by Mediacollege Amsterdam and co-developed by SintLucas, Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam and Cibap is a great example of cooperation.
Virtual Production Film
Another example of teamwork is the Virtual Production film project, initiated by the Metaverse workshop. In recent months, students from different schools worked with Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUAS) and Ironfilms on a film using immersive design. David: “A virtual production film is a combination of physical and digital platforms in a real-time film or video environment. In virtual production, those platforms are merged to create virtual sets and environments during filming. This allows for more flexibility and creativity in productions, as it eliminates the need to physically build all sets or bring people to a location. The project involved working with a large LED screen wall with a camera that could move with it. BUAS has equipment to make a virtual production film. Ironfilms, a virtual production company based in Eindhoven, assisted with the production and shooting day. Each school made a part of the film, which together eventually became a long film.”