Software: Unreal Engine | SideFx Houdini | Blender | Substance Painter | Substance Designer | Maxon Cinema 4D
Tasks: Data Viz, Niagara Particle Systems, Shaders, Animation, Simulation, Rigging, Modeling, Texturing, LookDev
The basis of all life: carbon
The MYRIAD installation explores the global interconnectedness of life through the theme of carbon. Using advanced digital tools like Unreal Engine and Houdini, the project transforms scientific data into immersive media experiences. Carbon particles symbolize continuous movement and change, reinforcing the exhibition’s narrative of evolution and interconnectivity
Animal Migration and Scientific Research in the Anthropocene
MYRIAD visualizes the migration journeys of over 20,000 animals across land, air, and sea. The installation integrates real-world migration data, making complex scientific concepts emotionally tangible. Collaborating with experts in behavioral biology, climate research, and infrastructure development, the exhibition presents a multi-sensory experience that deepens public understanding of ecological interconnections.
Exhibition based on current research
My Tasks in the immersive installation of MYRIAD involved creating the particle interaction systems using Niagara and tracked data of people interacting with the floor and carbon block surfaces. I sampled the user positions on the floor into a texture that color coded the direction that the user is moving (flow map). This texture could be used to drive the particles inside niagara. The user could “kick” the particles away.
The butterfly system is a Niagara system where everything is procedural. Even the butterfly animation is done via shader. If a particle is moving upwards the butterfly wings flap. It it is moving down the butterfly glides.
Another part was to clean up and prepare the tracked data of the animals. The cleaned data was then imported into Houdini and sampled from spherical into equirectangular projection. The time was converted into a unix timestamp. All those “Points” and the data were color coded and converted into a mesh so we could play back all animal migration tracks at the same time and in realtime.
Other tasks involved texturing and animating Animals, Texts and timing on the Sequencer.
Real data of the world wind currents are used to drive the particles in Niagara.
The Migration Data was provided, then converted from spherical into equirectangular projection. Each tracking points Date and time was converted into unix timecode and encoded into UVspace.
The Butterflys itself are animated via shader and also driven via Niagara.
Tesla tesing the setup. We were tracking the users and i sampled them into a rendertexture that contains an RGB color (flowmap) to drive the particles in Niagara into the direcion the user i heading. So the users could kick away and also influence the direction of the carbon particles.