It’s not often that a story as powerful as Girmit gets told, in fact it felt like connecting with an important authentic piece of oral history revealing unexpectedly many implications in Fiji islands, the UK and eventually the rest of the world from the 19th century till our days. Oral histories and immersive experiences share something magical, they both create worlds where we get transported and are let to experience them, bonding with the story and remaining with clear memories of witnessing it happen. It was great to see Girmit take the route of multidimensional experiences and felt natural to get it to run across multiple devices creating a greater degree of flexibility in making the experience accessible in various scenarios.
Made possible by an incredible team of very strong minds proven by the impossible times in which it was all conceived, achieving a full blown multidimensional, multi-sensory, next level oral history experience, with lockdowns in place and no physical meets possible.
GenieMo, a multidimensional social casting medium, was being developed concomitantly with Girmit, the two being brought together at final stages in PlayLa.bZ for a first multidimensional shoot of a trailer for Girmit. GenieMo blends digital media in real-time and while facilitating authentic presence, it allows creators to become part of their own three dimensional creations using Kinect depth sensors and a variety of 2D and 3D displays. Working with Ajay Chhabra and James E. Marks on shooting this idea was amazing, Ajay became a multidimensional actor in a matter of seconds connecting perfectly with GenieMo’s flow allowing him to be presenting Girmit from within the world of Girmit, drawn in Tilt Brush by Lorna Inman. We had a final version of the trailer in a little over an hour. Real-time production speed is incredible when you can see the final outcome while you are creating it.
With Girmit things get even more immersive when the experience expands beyond one medium taking us on a multisensory, mind opening journey that raises awareness, inspires empathy and ultimately celebrates freedom.
Marius Matesan
Mixed Media Artist, PlayLa.bZ co-founder