Groove Jones worked with the Perot Museum of Nature and Science to develop a new interactive bird flight simulator for their Rose Hall of Birds exhibit. The experience is called “Tournament of Flight,” it is an interactive game that uses camera vision to track the guest’s body to give them control to pilot a Red-Tailed Hawk through a series of rings.
Groove Jones developed a sophisticated motion tracking system that allowed guests to interact with the simulator seamlessly via hands-free camera vision and markerless tracking.
By having users strike a T-pose during a calibration phase, accurate tracking was achieved. This ensured that the simulator detected and responded to users’ movements. As players soar through the skies, their goal is to pass through as many rings as possible, accumulating the highest score possible. Amidst the gameplay, users can also take in the picturesque Texas landscape!
At the end of the experience, the guest receives their final score.
Flying Like A Bird
Guests control the bird’s speed, direction, and altitude with their bodies. They can increase their speed and navigate the simulated airspace by flapping their arms. Leaning from side to side enables them to steer left or right while leaning forward or backward propels them upwards or downwards.
Groove Jones incorporated an “on-rails” approach to ensure player safety and prevent collisions within the game world.
Instructions are displayed when the experience begins.
A guest can trade altitude for speed. By increasing their altitude, they slow down, and by diving, they speed up. They can ride thermal currents to increase their altitude without losing speed.
There are also wind particles that help the player understand the direction of the course.
A Flight SIM and a Gamified Experience
Tournament of Flight is a flight SIM and game. When guests successfully fly through the rings, they are given points. Each ring type has a unique point value – Bronze is 3 points, Silver is 10 points, and Gold is 20 points. The rings are placed throughout the canyon, with higher point value rings in more challenging locations.
Below you can see how lower point value rings were positioned so a guest could easily steer through them in a row.
Higher point value rings challenged the guest and required more complex flying skills.
The level map system was broken out over a 1-mile distance. Below is an overview of the flight path.
Early previs example of the bird in motion over the game map. You can see an example of the in-game camera tracking system we implemented.
The in-game camera tracking system is sophisticated. We used an array convolution to create a smoothed average of the bird’s position over time. We also added it as a slight offset to the camera to give more of an illusion that the camera was following the same path as the bird, which helped give it a more cinematic and organic feel.
Star of the Experience – the Red-Tailed Hawk
The red-tailed hawk is one of the most common hawks in Texas and one of North America’s largest birds of prey. They have a unique cinnamon-red tail, which is the trait that gives these birds of prey their names.
The Groove Jones team designed and animated the bird to be as realistic as possible.
The collaboration with Perot Museum’s bird experts provided invaluable insights that further enhanced the authenticity of the bird’s behavior.
Over four dozen individual feathers were created for the red-tailed hawk.
Below is a sample of the texture map for some of the feathers.
All the flight feathers, Primaries, Secondaries, and Tail feathers were rigged individually for full control. Groove Jones used Blender, a versatile 3D modeling and animation tool for the bird. This tool enabled the team to create detailed and lifelike animations for the bird, including feathering, talons, and realistic flight movements.
The team studied videos of birds in flight to animate the subtle actions and bends of the wings.
The result is an amazingly realistic view of the bird.
Creating the World
The Groove Jones team aimed to design a visually stunning world for the Tournament of Flight. Drawing inspiration from various regions in Texas, Groove Jones seamlessly integrated different Texas landscapes and captured the state’s beauty.
The team researched and referenced imagery around actual Texas canyons for the environment. Terrain and plants found within Texas were used to build out the background. The team created 3D models of the plants for the environment.
Final real-time render of the river canyon in-game.
Unity’s High-Definition Render Pipeline
To elevate the visual quality of the simulator, Groove Jones harnessed Unity’s High-Definition Render Pipeline.
On-site Installation at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science
The Groove Jones team went on-site at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science for the final hardware and software installation. The Tournament of Flight Experience is located on the museum’s fourth floor within the Rose Hall of Birds exhibit.
We used an Azure Kinect spatial computing camera as the computer vision sensors. Groove Jones uses custom markerless tracking capabilities for complete body detection and controls.
A fan was installed in the ceiling to provide a physical haptic element to enhance the sensation of flying through the air.
The project’s success can be attributed to effective collaboration, clear communication, and a shared commitment to delivering an exceptional product. Groove Jones has worked with the Perot Museum of Nature and Science for over six years. These collaborations further solidify our shared vision of providing captivating and educational experiences for museum visitors. For more info about the museum and the Tournament of Flight, visit https://www.perotmuseum.org/.
Award-Winning Production
Horizon Interactive Awards
SILVER
Category: Interactive – Kiosk / Public Exhibit / Museum / VR
