The Story
Leading researcher and inventor for butterflies, the elusive Professor M, seeks new interns for her Lab for Investigating Monarches at the University of Texas at Austin.
Apply by stepping through the doors to complete the Social Butterfly Experiment, following the real journey of Monarches. Work as a team to communicate with the flutter of butterflies through trails of color and scent emitted from your headset powered by the kinetic energy in the room. Guide the monarches to avoid human-made hazards and to find their rare food source, the milkweed flower.
-M
Mission Monarch Migration!
Welcome to the first in-house LIM project in the School of Creative Design and Technologies curated by a team of creative techicians shining a light on the plight of Monarch Butterflies
Our space is carefully designed to simulate the environments often encountered during the Monarch Butterfly migration where you can travel 3000 miles from North America to the forests of Mexico on an escape from the
seasonal winter storm and various human-made hazards.
360 Lighting, Spatial Audio, Motion Capture, Game Engine Technology with a dash of Immersive Theatre...
We are committed to creating a 360 audio, lighting, motion capture, and storytelling experience centered around the struggles butterflies endure that are created by human-centric systems such as automobiles, manufacturing, and cityscapes.
Visit the Social Butterfly Experiment!
Driving Societal Change
Here at the Lab for Immersive Media, our creative technicians are dedicated to using motion capture, lighting, game engine, and spatial audio technologies to share the mesage of supporting the monarch migration from the Great Lakes to ATX to Mexico City by fighting the decline in milkweed plants.
ENDANGERED
Status of Monarch Butterflies
2 MILLION
Death by Roadways
3000
Miles Traveled
Dr. M
Founder & Lead Scientist, LIM
Implementation
Technical Overview
Discover the various technologies undertaken by LIM to protect and promote the call to plant more milkweed for our monarch friends.
We used Unity/C# to develop the game and Git/Github for version control. We utilized the QTM/mo-cap system and headtrackers for realtime streaming in the LIM. Resolume and light fixtures were used for physical lighting. Ableton, MIDI, and the ten-channel spatial audio system were used for immersive 360 audio. To connect these technical elements together, we used the Qualysis-Unity SDK and sent OSC messages through Chataigne and Touchdesigner and OSC Jack across 2 computers.
3D models and animations were created in Maya. VFX were created in Unity. 2D game art and animations were created in Adobe CC, and textures were made in Substance Painter. These game assets were downloaded from Google Drive if self-made or from online if outsourced, then implemented into Unity.
The different areas of the map were first white-boxed to get the structure of the levels down and to notify other group members of where the assets needed to be placed and how the game mechanics would be implemented.
The assets in the white box levels were named according to which final game assets would replace them.
The butterfly behavior and trailing system, player movement, map scroll, winter storm, cars, and game start mechanics were tested in separate scenes with placeholder assets.
These images showcase the asset creation process in which 3D modeling, rigging, and UV unwrapping were done in Maya.
These videos show our particles which were made in Unity 3D
A polished look was achieved through set-dressing the environment, in-game lighting, and manipulating textures/assets as needed.
For the Inside Out <--> AET Showcase, we needed lab technicians to gamemaster the experience, where they onboard / offboard "incoming interns" and ensure everyone's safety.
Interactive Aspects
Renderings
Bask in the beauty of the journey of monarches and how audience members can experience it together in a shared reality.
Watch to get a glimpse of the full experience!
Production & Design Prep
Planning Documentation
How did our team of 9 put this together in just 6 weeks? Peruse our organizational processes below and read more about our timeline, research, and assets here.
We used Discord as our main form of communication, Asana for project management, and Google Drive for documentation and asset uploads. Miro was an early ideation tool, but we used FigJam for the majority of development for ideation and creative direction. Canva was our pitch deck and poster design tool.
Photo Credit: Brian Birzer
Meet the Team
Meet the Social Butterfly Team
Special thanks to Professor Kyle Evans and LIM Lab Tech Brandon LeJeune for their support!
Join the Cause
Photo Credit: Brian Birzer
