Deakin Motion.Lab a finalist in 2015 Unity Awards

Deakin Motion.Lab and Victorian Opera’s ground-breaking 3D production of The Flying Dutchman, which premiered in February 2015, has been named a finalist in the 2015 Unity Awards.

The Unity Awards recognise the most impressive games and other projects made using Unity, one of the most popular cross-platform game engines in the world with over a million registered developers.

The Flying Dutchman is a finalist in the Best Non-Game Project and Community Choice categories of the prestigious awards which will be presented in Boston on 22 September.

The Motion.Lab team used Unity to create an entire virtual world for The Flying Dutchman, including ghostly sailing ships, wild oceans, stormy fjords, and doomed lovers. Live performers sang Wagner’s iconic score in front of the 3D background and audiences at the Palais Theatre in St. Kilda wore 3D glasses.

The Flying Dutchman is the first of three 3D operas that will premiere over the next three years. The project has been funded by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage scheme.

Dr Jordan Beth Vincent, Research Fellow at the Deakin Motion.Lab, explains that the team utilised Unity to bring new life to this much-loved story.

“The way that we use the Unity is quite unique, considering the game engine is most often used to create video and mobile games. We took that technology and applied it to opera for this project,” Dr Vincent said.

“Our work sits at the intersection of art and technology and The Flying Dutchman showcases our whole philosophy of creating multi-disciplinary and innovative work. Being named as a Unity Award finalist is extremely exciting and gratifying for us."

Dr Vincent credits the team at the Motion.Lab with creating a flourishing collaborative studio, as well as the strong creative relationship with Victorian Opera. The team has already begun work on the next opera, which will premiere in 2016.

“It’s very much a collaboration - everything we do is team-based - and I think it’s quite unique, both in the kinds of work that we’re doing but also the way we actually do it," Dr Vincent said.

“We have an expert team at the Deakin Motion.Lab made up of artists/researchers. We use art-based methodologies and apply it to different areas of our research and we aren’t afraid to experiment."

The Unity Awards nominations cap a successful year for the Deakin Motion.Lab with The Crack Up and Multiverse both named as finalists in the 2015 Australian Dance Awards in categories for new media and choreography. Vox Lumen, a live performance at White Night Melbourne 2015, was named a finalist at the AEAF Awards (Australian Effects and Animation Festival) earlier this year.

About Deakin Motion.Lab

Deakin Motion.Lab, based at Deakin University’s Burwood campus, is a creative consultancy that intersects research, art and technology to deliver state-of-the-art innovative solutions.

Bringing movement, performance, data and creativity together, Deakin Motion.Lab provides movement-based creative technology for a wide range of industries, including games, events, film, advertising and performance solutions.

The team is a highly-experienced collective of artists, designers and programming leaders who specialise in trans-media fields including virtual reality, augmented reality, performing arts, previsualisation, animation and motion capture services.

Deakin Motion.Lab was founded in 2006 through a partnership between Deakin University, Multimedia Victoria and Act3 Animation. The centre is based within the School of Communication and Creative Arts and collaborates closely with Deakin University’s Centre for Intelligent Systems Research (CISR).