36 Below

This project marks a huge step in my career, diving into the world of commercial AR/VR products. 36 Below is Arizona's first Walipini inspired speakeasy lounge. It draws its inspiration for its name from the 36th verse in Genesis 2:5 which details the creation story and the numerology meaning behind the number. Setting the stage for the arrival of man, the 36th verse of the story of creation describes a fertile world in which no shrubs or small plants of the field had yet sprung up because two essential elements were missing: rain and someone to nurture the garden.

Media Coverage:

Before and after launch, 36 Below received tons of media coverage from various media outlets in the Phoenix area.

Unity Development:

Adam Smith developed the majority of the scene as I contributed by adjusting lighting, optimzing performance, and developing an animal AI system for the deer and bird used in this scene. The deer featured a full behavioural system that would allow for roaming, eating, and sleeping states. The bird also had a roaming AI state.

Rigging and Animation:

I rigged and animated the Eagle model in Blender, giving it basic soar/idle, and flying animations.

AI:

The animals roman in their respective set boundaries for maintaining their position and keeping them on screen for viewers. The deer uses Unity's built-in NavMesh system, and the bird uses a custom boundary/zone system.

Occlusion Culling:

As previously mentioned, optimization was a crucial part of the project and one of my main contributions. One the optimization processes in Occlusion Culling. This allows for the entire map to be broken into a grid. Any part of the grid that is not in view of a camera will be hidden, reducing the rendering power required of the hardware.

More Photos:

At 36 Below, there are the north and south walls that each display their respective positions in this 3D world.

North Wall:

South Wall