SINGAPORE – Known for their multi-award-winning VR experiences, Untitled Project has released a new breath-taking 360 VR experience developed for Hilton International Asia Pacific’s flagship resort, the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, to highlight a world’s first-of-its-kind integrated residence that features sleeping above and below the Indian Ocean.
The team were approached by Hilton International Asia Pacific with a brief to create a VR experience that would transport their high-income target audience straight to Rangali Island, the location of Conrad Maldives, and invite them to an intimate discovery of a new concept residence. Known as THE MURAKA, this two-storey residence has an entire floor that rests 16.4ft below sea level, on the bed of the Indian Ocean.
Referring to architectural drawings and interior design plans, the team used CGI to meticulously build the residence from scratch. The rest of the content was created using film footage captured on site. The VR opens with the exhilarating feeling of coming to land over the remote Maldivian island. The exact flight path was captured with a 360-camera attached to a drone.
After exploring the resort and its facilities via 360 footage captured with the ground-based Mantis Pro 360 POV Dolly, the viewer finds himself on the sea bed as the residence slowly starts to form around him.
Schools of fish and larger-than-life manta rays bring the experience to a climax and highlight the residence’s unique selling point.
Warren MacKenzie, Untitled Project Creative Director, says, “The ultimate goal of VR to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. And although nothing can match the experience of actually being there, our approach was to give the viewer the sensation of being immersed into one of the most breath-taking marine environments. The fact the villa didn’t exist at the time enabled us to create the connection with nature as the most memorable aspect of the experience.”
The team also designed and built the stage that would host the VR experience in Hong Kong’s American Express Centurion airport Lounge. Each part of the activation was considered to give people an experience as close to the real thing as possible – not just the VR itself, but also the structure where participants sat to experience the VR, which took design cues from the residence itself.
In order to make the content accessible and easy to use by Conrad staff and properties across the world, the team created a custom VR player that could be controlled remotely. To support the marketing push of THE MURAKA, they also developed a series of six stunning photo-realistic CGI print visuals that were used as the basis for the print and PR campaign.
The photos created a viral sensation overnight and were featured in major global news outlets from Bloomberg US and China, CNBC US, The Telegraph Ultratravel & CNN to Forbes and the Robb Report.
Says Kimberley Roberts, Director Marketing and Communications, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, “Our challenge was that we wanted to promote a location that wasn’t yet built. The Untitled Team were able to mirror the architect’s vision and recreate it in virtual reality. The activation in the American Express Centurion lounge enabled us to get our proposition right into the hands of our target consumer who are on the lookout for unique out-of-this-world experiences which is exactly what we provide.”
