Connecting taitamariki to the land
A Waxeye case study
Karanga a Tāne Mahuta is a 360 VR experience that lets taitamariki of Te Tai Tokerau see 2,000 years of the Warawara forest through the eyes of its ancient kauri, from moa and the giant Haast's eagle to the choices that will shape the ngahere's future.
360 video trailer of the VR experience
Te Rarawa shaped the story from the start. The project was led by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, funded through MBIE's Unlocking Curious Minds, and co-created with the Warawara kaitiaki komiti, Te Aho Tū Roa and Te Kura Taumata o Panguru. We brought the craft. Te Rarawa directed the narrative and how te ao Māori is portrayed.
“We wanted to reignite the desire of Māori and New Zealanders to learn more and foster a heart and passion for our amazing taonga – Au Warawara.” Kiri Reihana, Kairangahau Lead Researcher, Manaaki Whenua
Built in te reo Māori first, with an English option, it won Bronze in Toitanga at the Best Design Awards 2021.
The journey runs from meteor strikes and the arrival of waka through to today, then looks 2,000 years ahead at where the decisions we make now could lead. Every detail was researched. Ecological reports and mātauranga interviews from the late 1980s informed the CG, from the forest's taonga species, flora and fauna to the European ships and the locations of marae.
Our artists and developers spent 15 months making seven minutes of virtual reality. We built the whole pipeline ourselves, from previsualisation to high-resolution stereoscopic 360 rendering. Hyper-real CG sits alongside 360 drone footage that lifts viewers above the forest canopy as it is today, and interactive hotspots open up deeper knowledge along the way. At every stage, iwi representatives, forest guides, experts and storytellers reviewed the work, and the Warawara kaitiaki komiti approved each phase before we moved on.
Behind the scenes: making Karanga a Tāne Mahuta
Passing knowledge between generations is an urgent concern for many iwi, especially Te Rarawa. Karanga a Tāne Mahuta brings the forest to its next generation of kaitiaki, wherever they are, giving them a new way to experience the history, heritage and landscape of their own rohe.
At the launch, “we had people cry, we had one faint, but the overall response is ‘wow, just awesome!’” It has since been used by the Department of Conservation, Te Rarawa and Manaaki Whenua.
