Our friends at Zubr have been visualising past, present and future (more on this in a minute) stories through creative wizardry and technology for almost a decade. The award-winning Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR & VR) studio has a super niche specialism, and the team’s niche expertise has brought about unexpected collaborations across the world.
Throughout 10 years of Zubr, they’ve completed an impressive total of 400 projects. During this time, the organisation has compartmentalised into three key areas of focus. Atom, which hones in on experimental content creation for marketing and creative agencies, Curio, which is the heritage branch of the business and now Zubr is launching its Futures division for academics and policymakers.
“The most exciting thing about AR and VR projects is essentially the idea of time travel”
We caught up with Zubr’s Director, Jack Norris, to talk about the possibilities AR & VR holds for everyone and what makes working in the sector so invigorating.
Awakening the past
Essentially, AR & VR tools enable us to experience another realm. When interacting with the tech, you are transported to another time, planet and orientation. This unravels depths of opportunity. Traditional storytelling methods have been expanded thanks to the development of these creative technologies, and communicating narratives is a universal need for organisations across the board.
“Our super rare specialism allows us to work in various industries,” explains Jack. “We collaborate with all sorts of sectors from heritage organisations to pharmaceuticals and creative agencies to construction industries.”
Thanks to the accessibility of enabling AR on mobile phones, Jack says the vast majority of projects Zubr is commissioned for are in this medium, “there’s a way of bringing anything to life in AR.” The VR projects tend to be reserved for specialist purposes, such as training or for larger companies who are looking to branch out with their marketing and event approaches.
“The most exciting thing about AR and VR projects is essentially the idea of time travel,” Jack tells us. “We’re increasingly finding that our customers want to show people something from the past that you can no longer see or something in the future that hasn’t happened yet.”
Using tech to engage new audiences in history has become integral to Zubr’s offering. Their work in this space has earned them international recognition and led to global clients. Jack elaborates, “We’ve just about completed an amazing AR project for the American Battlefields Trust.
“My hope for Zubr Futures is that it will enable accessible communication on really complex ideas”
“It was a huge heritage project that involved a lot of historical 3D modelling of battlefield sites from the American Revolutionary War. Our AR binoculars will be going out to the states, alongside an AR app with a number of other experiences that fit within this.”
Maintaining historical accuracy is pertinent to the process, as Jack outlines the team acquired knowledge from historians with specialised expertise for the time period. Details such as uniforms and layouts for soldier units needed to be clear to the creatives building out this virtual world.
From animators to technologists, there was a thorough educational piece. “We had to commission bespoke firing and reload animations for the soldiers and the flintlock rifles they used back then,” Jack says. “And we do most of this in-house. We have our 3D department who know how to sculpt terrains from scratch using reference material.”
Imagining the future
So where Zubr Curio is all about bringing the past back to life, Zubr Futures is (you guessed it) casting a lens on how our world may look in years to come. All the projects that will arise from this division comes down to futuristic world building – and Jack says the team won’t be shying away from dystopian or utopian outcomes alike.
“My hope for Zubr Futures is that it will enable accessible communication on really complex ideas,” Jack outlines. “Zubr Futures is going to work closely with researchers. For example, research papers that have been worked on but needs to be visualised for a wider audience.
“It can be hard for policymakers and politicians to deliver the results of research if they haven’t fully grasped the contents of a 50 page PDF. We’re presenting the idea that you could give them a VR headset and physically show them this is what a future environment is going to look like. We can actually impact policymakers more effectively. So we’re bringing this new service offering to decision makers and organisations who need to communicate complex ideas effectively.”
As visual creatures, sometimes the gravitas of any given outcome isn’t understood until we can actually see, touch and feel the impact. Catastrophes such as the climate crisis and war are notoriously challenging to communicate to individuals living in removed situations. We’ve quickly become desensitised to images and videos of destruction happening halfway across the world, and it’s a problem. But what would happen if we could simulate these environments for decision makers who are not physically position in the affected area?
This is what Zubr seeks to explore with the inception of its latest division, and we can’t wait to see what materialises from it!
You can learn more about all the past work Zubr has created on their website here. If you want to enhance experiences through the power of creative technology, get in touch with them today.
