Come hear our visiting scholar this semester, Professor Thiago Leitão de Souza discuss his ongoing research project “The immersive experience in 360°: an investigation, representation and digital immersion in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the 19th and 20th centuries.”
This game, developed at PROURB-FAU-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a 360° walking through experience of the old Panorama of Rio de Janeiro by Victor Meirelles and Henri Langerock — a massive painting as it once existed in Rio’s city center in 1885, 1915, 2020, and in alternative realities combining these years. The player can also explore the exhibitions where the Panorama was presented: Brussels in 1888, Paris in 1889 (during the Eiffel Tower exhibition) and in Rio de Janeiro in 1891. The project is developed in Unity and several freehand sketches, computer graphics techniques, 3D models, 3D renderings, and VR techniques are used.
If you’re interested in the history and evolution of cities, how our experience of urban landscapes changes over time and is mediated through art, and the intersection of videogames and history, don’t miss this talk!