VR Section Green Visions Festival Potsdam
On Friday morning, May 31, the grand opening of the VR section of the Green Visions Festival took place on the Griebnitzsee university campus. Maren Courage, Managing Director of the VR Business Club, opened the event with introductory words to the more than 60 guests and led them through the varied program of presentations.
After Kathleen Becker from the partner group “Industry and Business” welcomed the audience, the event was officially opened by the President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Dr. Oliver Günther. In his welcoming address, he emphasized the importance of the university as an ideal venue for the VR section of the film festival. The Babelsberg site of the University of Potsdam is characterized by special initiatives in the areas of sustainability and digitalization. The university has already received awards for its green campus initiative and sustainable mobility concepts. It also deals with modern digital forms of learning and invests in digital infrastructure, including high-tech labs, smart classrooms and the use of AI in teaching and administration.
The director of the festival, Dieter Kosslick, also attended the opening in person. In seiner Ansprache betonte er den Dreiklang des Festivals: Wissenschaft, Film und Dialog. This combination continues the tradition of the historic film location Babelsberg, where the first science fiction film “Metropolis” was made in 1927.
Kosslick has always promoted and implemented the theme of sustainability during the Berlinale. He is now providing new impetus with Green Vision. As a big movie fan, he told an anecdote from the opening film “Whale Nation” by Jean-Albert Lièvre, which tells the story of whales with spectacular underwater footage and shows how small we are compared to them. “They will outlive us!” Kosslick emphasized urgently.
The rest of the lecture program was initially dedicated to the development of digital urban cities and new concepts for the energy supply of buildings. Michael Knoll, Head of Urban Transformation at the GASAG Group, and Marcel Sattler from the project management and consulting firm Dress&Sommer presented their innovative approaches and visions for the future in these areas. They showed how digital technologies and sustainable energy supply can go hand in hand to make the cities of tomorrow more efficient and liveable.
Another highlight of the event were the presentations by Marc Tamschick from Berlin and Richard Oeckel from Potsdam, who presented their impressive digital designs and scenes for public spaces, museums and educational projects.
In addition to the VR films, there were other stands on the subject of the environment and sustainability in the foyer.
One exhibit brought along by Richard Oeckel was particularly fascinating: a digital ice core which, when touched on a screen, visualized the changes in a glacier in the Alps over thousands of years. This interactive exhibit offered visitors an impressive insight into the history and dynamics of natural phenomena.
Elle Langer, co-founder and CEO of the production company Pimento and the agency Pimento Formate, which specializes in augmented reality and virtual reality, was also there with a stand on the topic of AR as a medium for experiencing green topics of the future directly in a real environment.
As part of Marc Tamschick’s (CEO and Creative Lead @TMS) presentation at the Green Visions Festival on communicating sustainability through immersive exhibitions, the Tamschick team was able to demonstrate the use of VR in the VR section of the festival using their “Invisible Worlds” project for the AMNH in New York. They showed how people in a shared space can be motivated to communicate and interact with each other through senses, emotions and feelings – something that is often difficult in normal life because we all have our protective mechanisms in place.
Until 6 p.m. and on June 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., visitors had the opportunity to experience six of the selected VR films with different VR glasses in the foyer. One of the highlights is the 31-minute VR production “Floating with Spirits”, which immerses viewers in the interactive universe of Mexican spirits. Another remarkable production is the German VR experience “GENESIS”, which offers an emotional and intense journey through the evolutionary milestones of the earth and humanity. This immersive 24-hour metaphor, representing 4.7 billion years of evolution, impressively conveys that we are children of a galactic coincidence, born in the last second of eternity.
The opening and the VR section of the Green Visions Festival were a great success and offered visitors a fascinating insight into the world of virtual reality and its many possible applications. With exciting presentations, innovative projects and immersive VR experiences, the event was an inspiring experience for everyone involved. Many thanks in this context to Fenja Marlyn, who was responsible for the great organization and implementation of the VR track.
The successful event took place thanks to the generous support of GASAG, VR Direct and Schenker Technologies.
