30 years future laboratory ZKM: Diving into the jungle of Amazonia

How would it be if we could stalk through the undergrowth of the Amazon rainforest like a scientist? Like a caiman drifting through the water lurking for prey? Or take off and circle over the treetops of the forest like a harpy? Dive into the Amazon jungle rich in species. 

The interactive Virtual Reality Experience »Inside Tumucumaque« makes it possible for us to be catapulted into the world's largest rainforest reserve in the northeast of Brazil, to Tumucumaque. We discover the rainforest from the perspective of its inhabitants. More than 7,500 plant species native to the area have been designed for virtual installation. The size of the rainforest is immense: the area measures an area of eight football fields! 

The dream of perfect simulation of reality

The installation, which virtually creates the Amazon rainforest, is part of the series »The Art of Immersion«, which is dedicated to the so-called »immersive« visualization systems. Users enter a virtual environment that is exactly modelled on the »real« environment, giving the impression that they are entering a different, virtual reality. The user literally enters a virtual world, the overwhelming ecosystem of the rainforest, when putting on the virtual reality glasses of »Inside Tumucumaque«.

The ZKM has been researching the development of new image technologies for many years. »The Art of Immersion« presents works that finally fulfill the dream of cinema, namely to simulate life. With Virtual Reality it is now even possible not only to perfectly simulate reality, but also to interact with this »new« reality. We can control the flight of the harpies or dive up and down out of the water like a caiman. If the cinema image is still »captured« on the screen, Virtual Reality makes it possible to create an acoustic and visual (living) space that appeals to all our senses. What do you think a poison dart frog makes? »Inside Tumucumaque« moves the gigantic ecological paradise of the Amazon to Karlsruhe – will we travel from our living room armchair to distant places in the future?

Author: Regina Hock

30 years future laboratory ZKM
In 2019 the ZKM | Karlsruhe celebrates its 30th anniversary. The ZKM was founded in 1989 to negotiate the future of the arts and media under one roof, in a so-called »center«. For 30 years now, the ZKM has been shaping the image of the present and shaping the future. In 2019 the ZKM will not only celebrate 30 years of ZKM, but the ZKM will also celebrate the future.

The Art of Immersion. Inside Tumucumaque. A Virtual Reality Installation
Until May 27, 2018 

ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Lorenzstraße 19
76137 Karlsruhe
Germany
www.zkm.de