BBC Earth experience

y=f(x) lab designed and developed four different themed interactive installations for the BBC Earth Experience in London and Melbourne!

Coral Reef: Watch it Come Alive!

Immerse yourself in the serene beauty of our Coral Reef exhibit.
By combining the cutting edge capabilities of Unreal Engine and Touchdesigner, we’ve engineered an environment where your calmness breathes life into the coral. 
The less you move, the more vibrant the marine life becomes, unfolding a mesmerizing underwater ballet right before your eyes.

Bait Ball: Nature's Ballet!

Dive into the heart of the ocean with our Bait Ball exhibit.
Simulated in real time, this display captures the natural defense mechanism of small schooling fish. Move around, and observe the delicate balance as predators will be triggered to your motion.

Bioluminescence: Create Your Own Light!

Enter the magical enchanting world of bioluminescence, where living organisms emit a captivating glow. Your movements in front of the screen reveal this magical phenomenon, offering a glimpse into the beauty hidden beneath the ocean's surface.

Bubbles: Float to the Top!

Explore the joy of interaction at our Bubbles installation. Your silhouette transforms into a bubble silhouette on an 8-meter screen, and the more you engage, the higher your bubble silhouette swims up. It's a playful journey to the top.

Project: BBC Earth Experience
Clients: Mooneye production & Tinker
Concept experience & AV design: Tinker
AV supplier: Faber & Ampco Flashlight 

🎥 Hanzo Schwarz and Luke Brian

🎵 MacLoud

Remastered

y=f(x) lab introduces first of its kind, realtime content simulation at Remastered Rotterdam

At Remastered Rotterdam, visitors can experience the serenity of thousands of fish and birds and interact with them through movement. The animations change constantly and are never render in the same pattern, because they react to multiple data inputs such as body height, number of people in the room, or the touching of the wall on which the fish are projected.

For this project we used 6 lidar scanners, twelve 4K projectors and three 3d camera’s to get an interactive floor. All effects and triggers were custom designed and developed in Touchdesigner. The content simulations run in real-time, using a distributed system, and are never-repeating, constantly-evolving generative processes, which makes this project a first in its kind. Our final goal nonetheless was to hide the technology as much as possible so that the experience of the environments is convincing, memorable and approachable for everyone.

As a result, and as you can see in the video, the interaction runs extremely smooth, which is exactly the goal when you design a project like this. To reach this level of smoothness, quite some artistic and technical obstacles had to be tackled. Consistent and incremental research and development processes were therefore crucial in finding the right balance between complexity and performance. For instance, the team spent for instance a considerable amount of time analyzing how fish and birds move in flocks or schools, and tinkering with the best way to simulate the organic and beautiful motion.

We believe that Remastered will prove to be an exciting location worth visiting in Rotterdam and hope that the visitors have as much fun exploring the installations as we had in building them.

Team : Rogier van Ostaijen, Tim Gerritsen. Roy Gerritsen, Darien Brito, Ronen Tanchum

LASER VS REAL TIME GRAPHICS

y=f(x) lab introduces laser calibration tool that connects laser to real-time visuals.

At y=f(x) lab, we're passionate about exploring the intersection of technology and creativity. Our team is always on the lookout for new techniques and protocols to combine in unique ways, fostering an environment of innovation and experimentation. Recently, we developed an automatic calibration tool that connects lasers to real-time visuals, all programmed in-house using Touchdesigner.

This cutting-edge tool is designed to test the boundaries of combining lasers and visuals in a real-time environment, enabling us to create stunning visuals that react to the laser's output. We're thrilled to share this exciting development with our community, and we're eager to see the ways in which it inspires new ideas.

One of the most exciting aspects of this technology is its ability to calibrate the screen's position in relation to the laser using just a camera feed. With this precise calibration, we're able to synchronize visual effects with the laser's output, creating a seamless and mesmerizing experience. This calibration also allows us to make immediate adjustments during live productions, ensuring that the visual effects are always perfectly aligned with the laser's movements.

We're proud to showcase the various interactions possible with this system in our latest video. The possibilities are truly endless, and we can't wait to see what new directions this technology takes us in. The automatic calibration tool is part of the Iris framework, which is designed to support the development of new media art and installations.

Part of the Iris framework.

Laser provided by Laser Image
Camera & Montage: Alex Pitstra
Recorded at Amaze, Amsterdam