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Concrete Flowers is a prototype of an immersive narrative VR experience I created during my exchange at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. It combines choreographed dance with poetry, volumetrically captured and showcased within a virtual environment.
Concrete Flowers is a prototype of an immersive narrative VR experience I created during my exchange at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. It combines choreographed dance with poetry, volumetrically captured and showcased within a virtual environment.
Timing: February - May 2024
Role: Concept Designer, Choreographer, UE4 Developer, VFX Artist (Solo Project)
Timing: February - May 2024
Role: Concept Designer, Choreographer, UE4 Developer, VFX Artist (Solo Project)
Overview
Overview
"Concrete Flowers" aims to explore the potential of art and narrative utilizing the volumetric capture in a VR environment. The project combined a choreographed dance performance captured in CIVIT’s volumetric studio, a narrative poem, and a custom virtual environment designed and animated in Unreal Engine. This was a hands-on journey where I developed the concept, wrote and recorded the poem, sketched out choreography and storyboards, supervised the performance capture, and brought the entire environment to life in Unreal Engine 4.
Project Planning & Design
Project Planning & Design
Since I worked on this project alone, I managed all stages of planning and production. I organized the CIVIT studio sessions and coordinated with Ioana, who kindly performed for the capture, and handled communication with project resources. Creating initial sketches and 360°-storyboarding helped me clarify the environment’s feel and map out the dance sequences. I also used Krita and Canva to create concept visuals, and a frame-by-frame prototype animation in DaVinci Resolve served as a preview for the final layout which I conducted a user testing with.
Prototyping & Troubleshooting
Prototyping & Troubleshooting
Working on the prototype, I encountered many technical challenges. Testing uncovered an issue with the Unreal Engine 5 plugin, which required a lengthy troubleshooting process, and I ultimately decided to switch to Unreal Engine 4. This change meant many assets I had planned to use were incompatible, requiring a new asset collection. Working within UE4, I created procedural foliage, programmed custom particle systems, and developed timeline animations within Blueprint to construct an evocative, atmospheric setting for the poem and dance.
Result
Result
My goal was to use the volumetric capture studio and VR in innovative ways, exploring narrative through emerging media. This experience expanded my technical skills and gave me valuable experience in handling large-scale interactive media projects independently. While the project’s scope meant I couldn’t fully implement VR in this phase, I achieved a working prototype that fulfills the core elements of my concept.
The end result includes a detailed design document, a video of the environment, and a roadmap for further development. With more time and support, I’m confident this project could evolve into an exhibit-ready VR experience.
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