BBC Earth
Micro Kingdom: Senses
Some of the most incredible animals on our planet are the smallest.
About the Partnership
The project forms part of a portfolio of innovation work that BBC Earth has undertaken with major partners and is the second collaboration with Preloaded.
It was funded by Magic Leap as part of their Independent Creator Program.
Although still in the early stages, Spatial Computing promises to be an exciting new way to tell interactive stories that engage people with the natural world.
The Challenge
During 8 months this innovation project has seen the team explore the possibilities for natural history storytelling with spatial computing on the Magic Leap Platform.
Looking at how to translate the skills and methods of the Natural History Unit and to understand more about the way in which it can deliver a new experience for audiences.
“The ambition of the BBC Studios Natural History Unit is always to connect new audiences in new ways to the wonders of the natural world – with this project we are achieving that in a way that we never dreamt was possible.”
Doug Hope
Executive Producer, Natural History Unit, BBC Studios
The Senses: Vibration
The Wandering Spider lives and survives by using an extraordinary sense of touch that analyses vibrations & movements of air around it.
It’s whole body is covered in thousands of specialised hairs and tiny holes that sense the smallest vibrations and movements of air. Effectively turning the spiders into a walking sensory system that tells them all they need to know in order to survive in the forest at night.
The Senses: Smell
Leafcutter Ants form some of the most complex animal societies on Earth. They’re also the only creature, apart from us, to farm their food.
In order to farm their food they’ve developed an astonishing sense of smell which they use to find compost, communicate with one another and mobilise the colony.
They don’t use a nose like us, instead their antennae are designed to pick up airborne odours and deliver scent information to up to 400 odour receptors – more than four times as many as most insects.
Creating Stories with Spatial Computing
Script writing is always a process of editing. But writing for an immersive project that utilises early stage technology took the process to a whole new level.
Natural history projects usually start with a story concept which forms the foundation for the production. The Crew head out into the wild and, hopefully, capture the behaviour that will frame the story. With Micro Kingdoms this step by step workflow had to change. We had to work back and forth in collaboration iterating so that we could understand what was possible and which stories would be most effective within spatial computing.
Realising a Natural World
We set out to create an authentic digital version of the natural world. Making use of Natural History Unit’s detailed archives, we used skeletal anatomy to inform the 3D modelling and rigging, and studied hours of video footage to perfectly capture the animals movements in animation.
The environments were also painstakingly recreated, not just in how they look but how they react to subtle breezes or being being touched.
The Making Of
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“When we can learn by actually experiencing environments, the potential for empathy and appreciation of new worlds grows exponentially.”
Rio Caraeff
Chief Content Officer, Magic Leap