Circa 1948 Released
The first production powered by my open source Kraken Engine has been released! There are two parts to Circa 1948:
An installation art piece consists of a 4-projector, 360 degree C.A.V.E system, that participants can enter to be surrounded by the screens and tracked by Kinect sensors. The participant can navigate through Hogan’s Alley and the Hotel Vancouver Circa 1948 and eavesdrop on the voices of the past to reveal the story in a non-linear fashion.
An iPhone + iPad app also powered by the Kraken engine allows you to explore these neighbourhoods of Vancouver’s past at your own pace at home. Kraken’s “Siren” audio spatialization engine enhances the experience by projecting sounds from all directions using HRTF (Head Related Transform Function) algorithms and real-time impulse response reverb.
It was a great experience to work at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) with Stan Douglas and the passionate 3d artists, animators, voice actors, and producers!
The app is available now, for free on iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and newer: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/circa-1948/id836688265?mt=8
Kraken Engine and Siren are FOSS (Free, Open Source Software): http://krakenengine.com
More details are on NFB web site:
Here are some publications covering the launch of Circa 1948:
- Time Magazine - Canada’s Ghosts in the Machine
- The Guardian - Stan Douglas’ Circa 1948: ‘It’s not a game, it’s a story’
- MIT Docubase - Enter the shadows of Vancouver, BC, circa 1948, through this immersive interactive art app for iPad and iPhone.
- National Film Board of Canada - Circa 1948 Press Kit
- Vancouver Sun
- Government of Canada - History Will Not Be Silent - WORLD PREMIERE OF CIRCA 1948, CO-CREATED BY THE NFB AND STAN DOUGLAS
- Installation Magazine - National Film Board of Canada Launches Circa 1948