Inspiration
It is very easy to find your inspiration in the great open landscapes and the rich variety of wildlife across Africa. It all started with a wish to let people feel the grandeur of mighty mountain gorillas of Rwanda and the endless savannas when it is not possible to go there in person. This was the ideal medium to virtually transport viewers into the heart of Africa's wildlife, giving an immersive safari experience while being able to raise awareness for conservation efforts. Safari360 was a brainchild born from this passion to merge technology with nature and to give this to everybody.
What it does
Safari360 virtual reality ride whisks users on a breathless tour across wildly variable ecosystems in Africa. Through forms of locomotion, users travel through diverse habitats-from forests in Volcanoes National Park to the plains of Kilimandjaro-sights along the way include iconic African wildlife such as gorillas, elephants, and antelopes, while learning about animal behavior and why the different habitats must be preserved.
How we built it
For the VR environment, Safari360 is being developed in Unity3D, with assets being modeled to show accuracy in representation for Africa's landscapes and wildlife. We will maintain compatibility with a wide range of VR headsets using the Google VR SDK. In relation to the wildlife, we have 3D artists who can create realistic models and animations of the animals, making it look as realistic as possible. The sounds of nature and background music will be added carefully to increase the feeling of immersion.
Challenges we ran into
Some of the biggest challenges we face include creating realistic wildlife behaviors and environments. We're taking a lot of time to investigate and simulate just how animals move and behave within an environment. The other challenge is to optimize the experience of VR on different hardware so that it runs with smooth motion on both high-end and lower budgets of VR devices without losing visual quality. There's always a challenge of realism vs. performance.
Accomplishments that we 're Proud of
We are proud of how this final product will be shaping up in terms of immersion and realism: the wildlife will be looking and acting naturally, and the environments authentically capturing the beauty of Africa. We will also be able to fit in some educational, interactive elements where users can learn about the animals and ecosystems as they go. Conservation awareness is something we are particularly proud that the project will raise through a fun, immersive medium.
What we learned
The things we have learned during this project are immense: from VR development and optimization techniques to create an immersive experience, to acquiring knowledge about Africa's wildlife and ecosystems in order to implement them more realistically. We also learned how to manage a multi-discipline team: developers, 3D artists, environmental experts.
What's next for Safari360
In the near future, we are going to continue developing Safari360 to include more places in Africa, including Lake Victoria,Sahara deserts, Nyungwe Forest and others. Also, we would like to integrate multiplayer functionality into this presentation where people can come and navigate this virtual safari together. Lastly, we would like to work with organizations in wildlife conservation to make Safari360 an educational tool in schools and raise awareness about wildlife.
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