Infinity puts space in space

In January 2019, while astronaut David Saint-Jacques was on the International Space Station (ISS, or ISS, to use the acronym), a production company in Quebec was invited for immersive in-flight entertainment — through its 360-degree 3D cameras. From this bold move by Felix and Paul Studios, endorsed by NASA, emerges endless, a multisensory and interactive virtual reality experience presented by Studio Phi from mid-July at Arsenal, where the broadcaster meat and sandd’Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

endless It is based on 250 hours of images from the daily lives of astronauts. This project was initially designed as a four-episode documentary for virtual platforms, Space Explorers: The International Space Station Experience, will take a more fragmented shape in Griffintown, with 40- to 120-second capsules. We’ll see Saint-Jacques and others eating, running, standing upside down and discussing weightlessness and the views they have on Earth.

Space Station, As If You Were There: This is the topic at the heart of this ‘exhibition/experience’. However, there is more to life inside the space compartment. The course “inspired by NASA missions” will be divided into seven areas, some of which will be detected with virtual reality goggles and some not. Two famous creators were added to the craftsmen of Felix and Paul, stage lady Marie Brassard and Japanese artist Ryūji Ikeda.

Driven by a desire to make space accessible to the general public, when only 250 people visited the International Space Station, Montreal Studios developed expertise in the documentary Extraterrestrials. Félix Lajeunesse, one of the founders, assures us that what drives him is not inexpensive travel, but rather telling a human story.

“Since the beginning of the adventure space explorers, we knew that work would not give up for everyone. Not everyone has VR glasses at home, he said during an interview on the sidelines of the press conference at the Fi Center. We also knew that the format of the exhibition would allow for an experience that the platforms would not. “

He insists that a visit to the Arsenal will be group, like living together by astronauts. In the Explore Station area, people will move twice: a hypothetical step equals a real step, says Julie Tremblay, a producer at Phi. “It free roaming, specify. We will move freely in the virtual space and in the physical space. “

Everyone will be able to interact with others مع [grâce à] Their avatars, says Félix Lajeunesse, choose content intuitively, using their bodies. This element of interaction is a big factor for immersion, attendance and participation in the virtual reality that we wanted to have. must [pour ça] Exhibition. “

Greetings to the curious

“The story is inspired by the research of astronauts. It is a tribute to curiosity, a physical and emotional journey, almost spiritual,” says Marie Brassard. It is she who signed the narrative framework for what she described as “theatrical creativity”.

The actress and director read the words Felix and Paul collected on the International Space Station — “600 pages of testimonies,” she adds. I was moved by this, finding in these scientific men and women an “extraordinary” of humanity and humility.

Astronauts talk about the planet as a tiny point in the universe. The idea of ​​borders takes on another meaning. Their humanity stems from the amazement at our very existence. This is what we wanted to suggest. “

segmented into sections, like the International Space Station, endless He draws his inspiration from space travel and our knowledge of the universe. The visit will begin with a “departure into the unknown,” in the words of Mary Brassard, and end with “the origin,” an area that states “a world to come.” Between these two poles, the audience will navigate other environments, including a representation of a vortex – or wormhole. “It is a theoretical space that we must cross to go from a black hole to a white hole,” comments the director, who made light a recurring element in each part.

The area will be exclusive to Ryūji Ikeda, once again in the domain of Fi Ten years after the exhibition monograph. For the occasion, the Paris-based artist created an audio-visual installation that addresses the mystery of the universe and its microscopic and macroscopic nature.

New and “indoor” product, endless It is launched in the media orbit as meat and sand still going. For a month, the two immersive shows will occupy almost the entire ground floor of the Arsenal. endlessCovering 12,500 square feet, or twice the area of ​​the first, it will move to Houston and eleven other North American cities yet to be identified.