Treespace is an environmental enterprise developed to enable large scale reforestation and ecological restoration. Their projects are led by nature to deliver the optimal environmental, social and economic outcome for each location. The main goal of Treespace is to restore the natural balance, and they asked Animation Research Ltd to visualize their first project at Mt Dewar.
The hope is that, with community endorsement, the Mt Dewar project will become New Zealand's largest commercially funded native reforestation project and a small step on New Zealand's journey to carbon neutrality. Read more at treespace.co.nz
ARL is bringing virtual reality to Otago prison to help inmates learn to read while they fix cars (it is estimated that 65 percent of people in prison need help with literacy and numeracy). ARL has extensive experience with animation and virtual reality, and is using that technology to help inmates learn. Every six weeks or so, the VR hardware and software has been taken to Otago prison, where 12 inmates act as consultants - they test it out and give feedback on its development. The level of engagement has been "through the roof", and that's the whole point, according to Jimmy McLauchlan from Methodist Mission Southern, who teaches in prisons. McLauchlan has found many inmates are dyslexic, and find it difficult to engage in traditional 'pen and paper' learning. "This is an opportunity to reset things." he said.
The project is being privately funded, with Hawke's Bay iwi Ngāti Kahungunu committing to investing at least $2 million. The new tool has also impressed Minister of Corrections Kelvin Davis. "As soon as you put on the headset you are in a workshop and there's a car in front of you," he said. "And it comes apart - like the nuts come off the wheel and the wheel slides out - it's like you're there. It is just unlimited what can be done."- condensed from an original article by Leigh-Marama McLachlan for RNZ
Above: an early demo presentation video of the VR application
"The 3D graphics deliver an experience for the trainee as close to the real thing as possible. Even sun-strike and raindrops on the cab windows are replicated with incredible realism." Mark Griffin - Product Development Manager, Airways New Zealand (July 2012) -Total Control 2006
"The... technology supplied by Animation Research Ltd is superior to anything seen previously, and testing has delivered the most consistent data our company has ever had." Jason Paris - Head of Emerging Business, TVNZ (Louis Vuitton Pacific Series 2009) -Louis Vuitton 2009
"We are thrilled with the energy and enthusiasm that (ARL) has brought to the table... It is a real case of a Kiwi company combining a No.8 wire attitude with world-class technology." Michael Glading - New Zealand Open Tournament Director (February 2014) -NZ Open 2015
"We have all been truly overawed with the power... of the system, it's modelling, and it's operation. It is, by a long way, the best 3D that I have worked with anywhere..." Richard Carr, Senior Producer, Formula One, BBC. (January 2011) -Monte Carlo 2012
