Hello. My name is Pavel Sovushkin. I am an experience designer for XR projects.
In this publication I will tell you about the art project called Bilibin XR.
I will tell you what the status of the project is at the moment. What has already been done on the project and our vision of its development.
The Bilibin XR project is being created by the WOWlab.
WOWlab is a consortium of UX / UI designers for XR projects. Dmitry Gerasimovich and I are the co-owners of the WOWlab.
We have been doing UX/UI design for XR projects for 5 years.
Bilibin XR is our internal project.
In the Bilibin XR project, we combine all the accumulated experience on artistic XR projects.
We have already created XR projects for museums. The projects were made for such artists as Shishkin, Malevich and Goncharova for the Tretyakov Gallery. These projects continue the works of great artists through the prism of Virtual Reality experience.
Each project is a study of culture and the extension of cultural threads into a new reality.
In the Bilibin XR project, we continue the exploration of the great artist Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin through the images of a folk tale.
Bilibin XR: is an interactive folk tale for augmented reality glasses.
Bilibin XR is based on the images of “A Fairy Tale about Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf”.
The project consists of 7 chapters. Each chapter is an independent experience for augmented reality glasses.
The WOWlab team and I, together with the British School of Art and Design, wrote a script for 7 chapters. Each independent chapter has its own game mechanics designed specifically for augmented reality glasses.
Now we are focused on the first chapter, in which the Player meets the Firebird.
Currently we are working on 2D concepts that will be used for making 3D models that the user will see in augmented reality glasses.
For example, the concept of a fairy tale window that will appear on the real walls of the room. The player will be able to open a window and see the world of a fairy tale that will unfold around the Player.
The Player will become a hero that will make his way in the first person mode making choices through actions. For example, in the first chapter, the magic tree branches growing through all the worlds, will give sprouts in the real Player’s room.
In the story, the Player acts as a Prince. An apple appears on the branches of a fairy-tale tree. The king of the earth world (the player’s father ), commands to protect the apple from a night thief who got into the habit of eating apples from a magic tree at night.
If you were a Player and a branch of a fairy-tale tree sprouted in your reality, would you pick an apple? What if the apple carries immortality?
Within 3 months, we will make an interactive story about the Player’s meeting with the Firebird.
We will make 3D models, animations and interaction mechanics through augmented reality glasses.
The story about the acquaintance with the Firebird is an independent 15 minutes long interactive fairy tale. After making the story about the Firebird and publishing it on augmented reality glasses, we will collect the first reviews from players.
After the demo part, a new chapter of the fairy tale will be published every next three months. Each chapter is an independent interactive fairy tale for augmented reality glasses.
In 21 months, we will make 7 chapters of the fairy tale about Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf.
Before starting WOWlab, I worked on AAA games for 5 years. For example, as part of the Allods Team, we made Skyforge — an online MMO RPG for PC and consoles.
I went from the idea of the project to its launch and strive to apply the experience of large industries to XR projects. We see tasks in task trackers, timings and budget for all stages of the project.
We use RnD processes to make mechanics for augmented reality glasses. Our experience is based on three RnD laboratories for the study of game mechanics for Virtual Reality. We have organized laboratories with universities and apply our experience on projects that we do at WOWlab.
We want to reach the limits of artistic and technical performance for augmented reality glasses and push those limits.
As we build the project, we will be making podcasts and publications about development, art and design for XR.
Based on the project, we will create teaching materials that will tell our students in British Art University and the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts how to create projects for AR glasses.
We are preparing the project for the festival screening in Cannes and will apply for participation in Emmy.
At this stage, our main goal is to partner with companies that produce augmented reality glasses.
We will adapt the interactive fairy tale for the glasses of our partners and show the technical and artistic maximum possible on the device.
If you can help us with contacts or you are interested in participating in the development of the project:
Write to me, Pavel Sovushkin via personal mail:
Sovushkin@WOWlabXR.com
On Twitter, I show the stages of work on a project:
https://twitter.com/PSovushkin
Subscribe to follow the development of the project. We will be glad to have any contacts that will help in the development of the project Bilibin XR for AR glasses.
Thank You.
