With VR, Jung von Matt takes you to Syria before the war

On no other platform are so many visual memories shared as on Instagram. Jung von Matt/Neckar and the artist initiative ARTHELPS are now turning this trend into an exciting VR project - and reconstructing life in the Syrian city of Aleppo before the civil war.

Rebuilt From Memories is the name of the presentation with which the agency Jung von Matt/Neckar, Exozet and the Artists' Initiative ARTHELPS The idea is to make it possible to visit destroyed places in Syria via VR glasses or smartphone in the intact state they were in before the outbreak of the war in 2011. The trick is that the 360-degree views are created directly from people's memories - namely on the basis of photos on Instagram.

Instagram images provide a glimpse into a collective memory

Specifically, those responsible set out to find photos of three historical places in Aleppo that were posted on the network before the war. Software collected the photos by geotag in three languages on Instagram and sorted them using Deep Learning. Using the method of photogrammetry, the digital agency Exozet then automatically generated the three-dimensional world for virtual reality from large data sets of two-dimensional images.

"Instagram provides us with unusual perspectives and emotional moments. The key to recreating not only buildings, but life, emotion and atmosphere - a glimpse into a collective memory," says Rico Noël, Creative Director at Jung von Matt/Neckar. Thomas Bedenk, Director of Immersive Media at Exozet, adds: "We knew we had to expect low resolution, inconsistent lighting situations and a lack of perspective. But in Jung von Matt's collaboration with our experienced developers and artists, we achieved a result that I'm totally thrilled with."

With the project, ARTHELPS wants to illustrate how the artful handling of relevant social issues can reach people and make them think. "Modern technologies and digital solutions can help to preserve and retell society and history. We want to bring back memory to shape the future," says Tom Lupo, founder of ARTHELPS.

Source: Horizon / GWA