Thousand Face was an innovative project experiment where we attempted to synchronise a real environment and its digital copy in an immersive setting using state of the art technology.
In this virtual experience players could explore a scenery and play some mini games on a different planet.
Interaction was based on physical movements including touching objects and voice communicating. To achieve this, we used a twelve camera motions capture system, Head Mounted Display (HTC VIVE dev-kit), VR gloves (Manus Machina), haptic vest and voice communication through microphone to simulate the effect of the space suit.
The project was presented at the Dutch VR Days in Amsterdam and later gained some publicity on the national television. The idea was to have the user completely immersed to achieve this we have combined the expertise of a Production Design creating an almost theatre-like introductory set. Standing behind a futuristic podium the welcoming space-crew was waiting for the new space explorers. The real game area was hidden behind her and a curtain.
The player could request a timestamped boarding-ticket from the welcoming crew and returning at the given time the player needed to present the “ticket” to enter an inner area where they could suit up for the journey.
The set also had a technical backstage where the game was running on a PC and being tethered to the player’s headset through a smart set design solution to avoid tangled cables. Arrive to this particular setup was a painful decision as we wanted a portable solution with a designer backpack and a laptop, unfortunately at the time this proved to be out of our reach.
Once the Player started the experience, I resided in the inner-tech-backstage and used a microphone to play the role of the dispatcher of the spaceship and guide the player. This was important because we could only have one person in the game thus the experience had to be cut to a maximum of 5 minutes.
During the gameplay the user had to complete a series of tasks to achieve the ancient artefact hidden on this planet.
Director Kornél Varga
Coordinating Professor Jilt Van Moorst
Collaborating Professor Herman Statius Muller
Course Director Harry Schreurs
Head Instructor Meindert Kok
Production Design Henk Henry Pol, Vincent Mensink, Eric Blakenburg
Kim Verduijn
Production Design Assistant Jaap
Sound Design Milan Grajetzki, Johannes Porteinsson
Concept Art Balazs Ronyai
PR Layout Design Didier Konings
PR Video JBDVideos and Didier Konings
United Galactic Nation logo designer Peim Van Der Sloot
Set Assistant Marloes Homan
