‘A New Kind of Wonder’ reimagines Fed Square in an immersive experience

‘A New Kind of Wonder’ reimagines Fed Square in an immersive experience

A new RMIT-led mixed reality project has earned one of three finalist positions in Fed Square’s Experience Lab program to create a transformative and original immersive experience at the iconic Melbourne landmark.

The project, called ‘A New Kind of Wonder’, is a progressive virtual and mixed-reality experience that uses gaming, simulations and real-world interactions to engage participants as they wander and explore Naarm’s potential futures.

Led by Lecturer Patrick Macasaet’s creative practice SUPERSCALE (a collaboration with RMIT Architecture alumna Vei Tan), the project also had input from Alumnus Youjia Huang and current Master of Architecture students Shuming Ivy Zhou and Zechen Huang.

3 women and 3 men stand next to each other From left to right: Vei Tan, Cienan Muir, Patrick Macasaet, Zechen Huang, Youjia Huang and Shuming Ivy Zhou. Photo by Tobias Titz.

Macasaet said the project’s narrative was inspired by the environmental, cultural and mythological significance of Birrarung Marr.

“...as well as engaging with First Nations in how we might envision a future flooded city of Naarm,” Macasaet said.

The team consulted with Indiginerd founder Cienan Muir and co-leader of RMIT Architecture Yulendj Weelam Lab, Dr Christine Phillips, on how to engage audiences from a popular culture lens. 

Macasaet said the project had the potential to impact how visitors engaged with immersive experiences beyond a form of entertainment, focusing on providing enriching narratives to help us understand and explore important questions and wonders of our time. 

“We’d like to think it has an educational layer embedded with real-world knowledge but projected through ideas-led narratives,” he said.

An evolving project 

‘A New Kind of Wonder’ evolved from an earlier SUPERSCALE project, ‘Wander Wonder’, which was developed during the pandemic and stemmed from Macasaet’s concern for his students’ learning experience during lockdowns.  

“I was very lucky to have had a group of students that were very open in experimenting with other modes of teaching and learning so I turned to the world of gaming and massive multi-player open worlds,” he said.

From this, Macasaet began exploring how gaming technologies and allied immersive media could be incorporated into and impact future architectural design process, pedagogy and practice. 

Collaborating with Fed Square 

Through the Fed Square Experience Lab incubator, the team was paired with mentor Peter Tullin, who guided them through the process of developing their concept with both a creative and entrepreneurial lens. 

2 men stand next to a model of an art structure Peter Tullin (left) and Patrick (centre) displaying A New Kind of Wonder physical model. Photo by Tobias Titz.

Looking to the future

Macasaet hopes to expand the project nationally and internationally in new locations, to offer different sources of inspiration and knowledge.

He also has broader aspirations to break down barriers for creatives wanting to experiment with emerging screen and gaming technologies that are often costly and inaccessible without funding.

“We want to break that barrier and foster a new generation of content creators within this emerging space,” Macasaet said.

“But also, new technologies will emerge so we hope to keep up with the pace and continually evolve.”

Macasaet and his team, along with the other two finalists, gave their final pitch to the Experience Consortium and Fed Square Executives on May 4.  

 

Learn more about RMIT Architecture.

 

Story by: Abigail Lees  

17 May 2023

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