Project Overview

We received a grant from the Port of Seattle to create a Virtual Reality (VR) experience for a Hoh rain forest tour. We plan to go to the Hoh Rainforest and capture a tour of the land using a VR 8K camera. We then plan to integrate that VR experience into Oculus Go and take those headsets and experiences to communities where the youth are statistically not going to get a chance to go to the Hoh Rainforest. We are seeking to work with the Hoh Tribe to have the experience be narrated by an ancestor of the land’s original people. In addition, we have acquired a Rokoko suit, a motion capture outfit, that allows individuals to capture a motion integrated seamlessly into the skeletons of digital assets. It is a commercial version of the motion capture that is done within Hollywood films. When finished we plan to take this experience to Libraries in Des Moines, Burien and SeaTac and showcase these experiences to our communities here in Seattle. We will have three short experiences highlighting businesses that fall into the category of Green Industry. One business is focused on rain water harvesting, another on solar energy and the other in urban farming.

Our vision and mission are central to our efforts in generating funds for equipment needed to support our mission to assist low-income students with the opportunity to educate and experience Virtual Reality (VR). With this grant, we will provide the chance to experience green spaces, such as Rainforests, with those who usually are unable to afford the cost of such a trip. The youth who watch our VR tour will be exposed to BIPOC professionals who work in sustainability in the areas of food, water, and solar energy. Historically these youth have not seen people who look like them in the green job sector. It is important for them to see people of color succeeding in this industry so they learn it’s a career path. People of color make up roughly 36% of the U.S. population, yet do not exceed 16% of the staff on environmental organizations (Green 2.0 Report). This project seeks to build the recruitment pipeline of BIPOC people working in the green industry.

By creating the Hoh rainforest tour, we will be providing hands-on training for kids from Minority communities teaching them how to create VR experiences. The youth will be part of the development team and therefore have a say in the narrative. The goal is not just to teach them the technology but introduce them to the development process. They will participate in all aspects of the development process, specifically creating the virtual reality tour. the youth will be helping to develop some of the virtual reality assets, as well as talking and communicating with our environmental businesses. The project is designed in such a way that the final piece will be used as. An art piece that can be shown and shared with many people within the community. Our goal is to give community members the opportunity to see the beauty of our state and to learn about the green jobs that affect and help keep Washington beautiful.

Film Gear

Interactive Virtual Model of the VR Tiny house

https://skfb.ly/6UDuv

Business Partners