British creative studio REWIND, well known for its virtual reality (VR) experiences like Ghost in the Shell and Pane in the Glass, has revealed its latest immersive project, Soul of the Machine, created for car manufacturer INFINITI.
Working with Tool of North America and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, REWIND debuted the experience at the 2017 Pebble Beach Automotive Week, taking guests inside the brand’s latest concept.
Featuring the QX50 concept, Soul of the Machine is a narrated 3.5-minute experience utilising HTC Vive and TPCast giving guests the ability to explore the car in complete freedom. Sat in an INFINITI driver’s seat they would see 342 car parts drift toward them, eventually forming the QX50 around them.
“Houdini is traditionally used for procedural based VFX elements. We used its power and precision to create the complicated and detailed effects within the real-time experience – the car building and exploding around the user,” said Matt Vernon-Clinch, Director of Accounts, REWIND. “We also used Houdini’s efficiency to rapidly iterate different versions, allowing us to get to the end result as quickly as possible, without compromising on quality. The result is part product demo, part interactive art.”
To watch Soul of the Machine head on over to Vimeo.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of REWIND, reporting back with its latest VR projects.