GENRE: INTERACTIVE DOCU-FICTION

FORMAT: WebXR

DEVICE: Mobile/Desktop

A WEBVR STORYEXPLORING THE

WATER-FOOD-ENERGY LINK

N E X U SAN INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY DOCUMENTARY

In collaboration with

CONNECTING THE PLANET THROUGH FOOD, ENERGY, WATER

LENGTH: 15-20 min

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As global population increases, the connections between water, food, energy and the environment at global and regional scales become even more important. The complexity and interconnectedness of these relationships challenge policy makers, scientists, businesses and citizens to find acceptable ways forward, but there are no easy solutions: water, food and energy systems are inextricably linked, and actions in one area often impact both the others.This is the “Nexus”, a concept developed by the United Nations to study the integrated impacts of human activities.

We chose to translate this complex thematic in an easy, entertaining experience tailored to the general public, using WebVR technology to make the work even more accessible.

Our aim is to propose a documentary that visually shows the delicate balance of the world's resources.We do not want to present the “right” solutions to environmental issues: our hope is to empower people by making them aware of the impacts of their actions both at an individual and systemic level.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU-FICTION EXPLORING THE DELICATE CONNECTION BETWEEN WATER, FOOD AND ENERGY,THROUGH THE VISIONARY POWER OF WEBVR TECHNOLOGY.

THE CONCEPT

The project will have a strong narrative componend, divided in two main parts:

PART 1 - ANIMATED FABLE- Noninteractive video- Storytelling to introduce the audience to the concept of the documentary.

PART 2 - INTERACTIVE WORLD-MAP- Interactive WebVR platform- Immersive experience to engage the audience and provide factual information on selected, real-life examples.

GENESISOF THE WORK

In an unknown future, an old man and his granddaughter are observing the fabulous landscape in front of them: the grandfather is narrating to his granddaughter how humanity, once in a deep environmental crisis, managed to carefully take care of the world’s resources.

The fable told by the old man recounts the tale of a village, microcosmic metaphor of the planet, which struggled to restore the balance of its natural resources.

SYNOPSISMISSION

EDUCATIONALIMMERSIVE

INTERACTIVESTORYTELLING

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MERGING THE IMMERSION OF VIRTUAL REALITY WITH THE UBIQUITY OF THE INTERNET. A WEBVR EXPERIENCE CAN BE ACCESSED FROM ANY DEVICE AND CAN BE SHARED AS ANY OTHER WEBSITE.

WEB XR TECHNOLOGY

Reference: BEAR 71

An award-winning WebVR project developed by National Film Board of Canada, freely available on the Internet and praised for its innovative implementation of WebVR technology.

1. Great accessibility and marketing potential. Almost anyone with a laptop or mobile phone that connects to data can view a WebVR experience. 2. User interactivity, for enhanced user experience.3. Fit between aesthetic style and content. VR enhances the natural landscapes selected for the project while WebVR makes the experience approachable to a wider public.

WHY WEBVR

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IN AN UNKNOWN FUTURE, A GRANDPA AND HIS GRANDDAUGHTER CLAIRE ARE SITTING ON A HILLTOP LOOKING OVER A FUTURE ‘SMART CITY’- SHOWING AN ASPIRATIONAL, SUSTAINABLE CIVILISATION.

INTRO

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THE GRANDFATHER TELLS THE STORY OF HOW THE WORLD WAS ONCE DEALING WITH A DEEP ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, AND HOW SOCIETY MANAGED TO CAREFULLY TAKE CARE OF THE WORLD’S RESOURCES.

PART 1 - THE ANIMATED FABLE

A full 360' picture will be composed at the end of the narration.

WATER-FOOD-ENERGY NEXUS A brief history of time

The story unfolds around the viewer

You see Claire, the first humans did not lead lives like us: they wandered the great plans of the world, hunting and gathering food, forever on the move and never staying in one place for too long.Yet people soon discovered that, instead of going hunting to gather their food and feed themselves, they could grow plants such as wheat, and herd animals. [...]Look at this village – The villagers have water from the river, grow crops in the fields and harness energy from the water wheel. If you imagine weighing these resources, you can see how water, energy and food are all perfectly in balance.This is what we call the Nexus.

SCRIPT EXCERPT Scene 2 - Grandpa narration over fable animation

The villagers needed more water to grow the crops and more energy from the water wheels to grind the wheat. The village continued to expand, and more and more food, and more and more water, and more and more energy was needed. Until one day, the water was all gone, and the Nexus was broken.

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A WORLD-MAP THAT ALLOWS THE USER TO ROAM AROUND THE PLANET WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO SELECT HIGHLIGHTED LOCATIONS.MEANWHILE, THE GRANDPA NARRATION CONTINUES TO EXPLAIN HOW THE IMBALANCES IN THE NEXUS LEAD TO THE LANDSCAPE THE USER IS IMMERSED INTO

PART 2 - THE INTERACTIVE WORLD-MAP

Glaze cursor based on head/mobile position

Highlighted interactive locations. These can be selected by staring at the icon for a set amount of time

Glaze controls allow to turn the globe aroundPART 2 STARTS

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THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES HAVE BEEN SELECTED AND INVESTIGATED BY A GROUP OF RESEARCHERSFROM THE CENTRE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

PART 2 - THE INTERACTIVE WORLD-MAP (all locations)

1. SPAIN - ALMERIA GREENHOUSEExplore how water, food and energy are intertwined in the world's biggest greenhouse.

3. BRAZIL - FUEL CROPSUnderstand how water, food and energy interact when fuel crops plantations lead to massive deforestation.

5. ARAL SEA DISAPPEARENCEExplore through the Nexus' lens how the world's fourth biggest lake was pushed to disappearence.

7. NIGER - RIVER BASINFollow the largest-scale positive transformation of the environment in the whole of Africa.

2. CHINA - DESERTIFICATIONUnderstand the effect that increasing land erosion can have on the water-food-energy Nexus.

4. AUSTRALIA - SOLAR DESALINATIONFollow the Nexus cycle when renewable energy resources are used to purify water for agricultural production.

6. MEKONG RIVER - DAMSExplore how the water-food-energy Nexus is impacted when a growing number of dams are built in one of the world's most important rivers.

8. CANADA - ATHABASCA OIL SANDSUnderstand the Nexus impact of this oil sands extraction site.

9. SAUDI ARABIA - CROP CIRCLES

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WHEN A LOCATION IS SELECTED, A PAGE CONTAINING DIFFERENT AUDIO-VISUAL INFORMATION IS LOADED. ON TOP OF THAT, THE GRANDPA'S VOICEOVER NARRATION DESCRIBES THE SCENE.

PART 2 - THE INTERACTIVE WORLD-MAP (example of selected location)

- WebVR interactive page. - Visual elements: 1. Satellite image 2. 360 still images (clicking will open a 360' still image inspired by Google Earth VR) 3. Timelapse 4. Written paragraph and infographics

DESCRIPTION

SCRIPT EXCERPTSaudi Arabia Crop Circles Grandpa: Here, Claire, you can see a very interesting example. Fields of crops in the middle of the desert were kept alive mostly thanks to irrigation. Buried deep underground since the Ice Age 20,000 years ago, water required huge amounts of energy to extract by extensively drilling it up to a kilometer belowground. We did not know how much water remained, but some predictions said that it would have not been possible to continue pumping it for more than 50 years: in just a fraction of time, a reservoir that took thousands of years was on the verge of vanishing completely.What would have happened had the water table run out? What would have been the cost of extracting even the deepest reserves of freshwater?

SAUDI ARABIACROP CIRCLES

Timelapse

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Crops cultivated in the desert. Energy used to pump water and grow food.

50 YEARSBEFORE THE WATER WILL RUN OUT

- SFX: Voiceover narration and background music.

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- The 360' still shots will allow to immerse the audience in the landscape and let them appreciate the impact of human activities in that area. Similarly, the timelapse will show the stunning development over the past 30 years, while the grandpa narration will link the example to the overarching Nexus story.

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THE USER WILL HAVE THE POSSIBILITY TO EXPLORE 10 LOCATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE, SPECIFICALLY SELECTED BY A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS FROMTHE CENTRE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

PART 2 - THE INTERACTIVE WORLD-MAP (sample VR images)

- VR landscapes (implementd through Google Earth VR) allow to immerse users in the scenery and let them appreciate the impact of human activities in that area.

- Selected by a team of researchers from Imperial College London, these examples expose how human activities are impacting water, food and energy resources and how they are connected to everyday activities. Inspired by the United Nations' Nexus framework, they will show the delicate balance of our planet's resources - a fundamental step to understand the concept of "sustainability" .

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THE TEAMMEET THE GROWING TEAM BEHIND THE PROJECT

NEXUS VISIONIncorporated Charitable Organization - www.nexusvision.orgThe organization was born out of Imperial College London and the main team is composed of 10 professionals with a strong network in the environmental sector.We are now looking to establish a collaboration with an international production compant to further support the project development and outreach.

PROJECT DIRECTOR RODOLFO LISSIARodolfo Lissia is an Italian film director, founder of the award-winning studio Rombo Productions. His works have been showed internationally at several film festivals and events, including the United Nations COP 21 and COP 24.In parallel to his activities as a filmmaker, Rodolfo completed a master's degree in Environmental Technology at Imperial College London.

CREATIVE ADVISORMICHAEL MARKMANMichael has been working for more than 5 years as a specialist XR designer between Europe, New York and San Francisco. He also co-founded and ceo'd Momentxr, a US startup working to create an innovative XR design tool.

WINNER

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHIMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDONThe documentary has been first conceived through the collaboration of environmental professionals who met at Imperial College London, one of the world's leading universities with regards to the environmental discipline. The documentary is therefore enriched and supported by the expertise of influential researchers and activists in the field of sustainability, several of whom have published academic papers on the theme of the “Nexus”.

ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR - PROF. NICK VOULVOULIS Nick Voulvoulis is a Professor of Environmental Technology at Imperial College London, Centre for Environmental Policy. International expert in environmental management, he is interested in research that can create an environment for innovation and engage businesses, industry and the wider public in the transformational shift required for our society to reach sustainability.

WEBVR ADVISORHUGH MCGRORYHugh McGrory brings expertise in media production workflows to the emerging 3D Web, at the intersection of big data and immersive experiences. He is Ceo and Co-Founder of Datavized Technologies, a creative technology company in NYC building custom tools and 3D experiences for the mobile web. From their early WebVR work with Mozilla and EY, to more recent collaborations with Google, Datavized has reimagined what's possible on mobile web browsers.

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PARTNERSBACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS SOUGHT

CONFIRMED PARTNERS

Institutional and academic supportWorld leading university in the environmental discipline.

The team is also in discussion with funding bodies and no-profit organizations interested in funding the project or support its development.

Institutional and financial supportInstitute bringing global expertise for climate change related research and translation into real world impact.Participation to climate-related events, such as United Nations COP26. Audience outreach.

POTENTIAL PARTNERSThe team has already begun discussion with several organizations (e.g. Systemiq, Google, The Ecologist) about strategic partnerships, in relation to:

- Audience outreach- Financial support- Online press release

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PROJECT SHOWCASES

The team presented a prototype installation of the Nexus project at Imperial College London, as part of the London Climate Action Week (1st-8th July 2019), convened by the Mayor of London.

The NEXUS VR installation consisted in a virtual reality tour around the planet using Google Earth VR, and it explored the connections between food, energy and water of the selected locations of the project.

The installation hosted more than 150 active viewers over the 3 days of the event, collecting positive feedbacks and an email-list of interested participants.

TO TEST THE CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT, A PROTOTYPE HAS BEEN SHOWCASED IN SEVERAL EVENTS,STARTING FROM THE #LONDON CLIMATE ACTION WEEK, SPONSORED BY THE MAYOR OF LONDON

The project has been showcased in the following events:

- London Climate Action Week, July 2019.- Arts Catalyst, London, October 2019.- Torino Short Film Market, Torino, November 2019.

#LONDON CLIMATE ACTION WEEK

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N E X U SAN INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY DOCUMENTARY

CONNECTING THE PLANET THROUGH FOOD, ENERGY, WATER

CONTACTS:

RODOLFO LISSIAPROJECT DIRECTOR

rodolfolissia@gmail.com