Overview
The focus of La PrimaVR is to document conservation and restoration activities, specifically the ones taking place in the La Primavera Biosphere Reserve near Guadalajara, Mexico. This is done with a combination of 360° video that was shot on location, and an interactive VR experience where players can conduct these activities themselves.
Background
The La PrimaVR project is an extension of a 100K Strong in the Americas Grant awarded to DePaul’s Steans Center and the College of Science and Health. The original project is titled “Promoting Bi-institutional Collaboration through Bilateral Exchange in Conservation and Restoration”.
La Primavera is known as the “lung of Jalisco” but is threatened by the expansion of affluent suburbs of Guadalajara.
A 400-hectare area of La Primavera’s over 30,500 hectares is collaboratively owned and managed by a consortium of 4 universities, including UNIVA. Efforts to manage this zone, called the Bosque Interuniversitario, or University Forest, require a baseline understanding of the species diversity in this area.
As part of the 100k Strong in the Americas Grant, a group of students from DePaul travelled to La Primavera meeting up with local students. Together, they engaged in conservation and restoration activities.
In Detail
As part of LaPrimaVR, these activities were filmed with a 360° videocamera. The recorded footage is being used to create an immersive and linear video experience as well as a non-linear one where the audience can choose how which footage they are interested in.
Additionally, a “traditional” interactive VR experience invites interested users to undertake the depicted conservation and restoration activities themselves.
Together, the experiences are used to raise awareness about conservation and restoration generally and the La Primavera Bioshpere Reserve in particular.
The project is currently in an early prototype stage.
Partners
Dr. Christie Klimas
Environmental Science and Studies, College of Science and Health, DePaul University
Dr. Monica Ramos
Steans Center for Community-Based Service Learning, Egan Office for UECP, DePaul University
Dr. Howard Rosing
Steans Center for Community-Based Service Learning, Egan Office for UECP, DePaul University
HexLab Team
Max Held, Sara Bayat Hashemi, Richard Wetzel