THE LOGISTICS OF LIFE
A microbiological VR application
“Shrink down to nanoscale and explore the marvelous machinery of a eukaryotic cell from the inside!”
ABOUT US
After finishing some VR Videos in the field of Science Communication, the team consisting of Claudia Puck and Johann Steinegger decided to take the next big step. - Making a VR Experience interactive!
with the support of our clients, bimm-research.at, we started to transform an existing project from Blender into Unreal Engine.
Since then, we have been on an interesting and challenging journey to create an adventure that is scientifically accurate but also brings joy to the hearts of gamers and future scientists.
KEY FEATURES
Playable on Windows in VR mode with compatible headsets, or as a standard PC game on a 2D screen.
Designed for high-detail projections and Virtual Production using Unreal Engine's nDisplay.
Control your experience with VR controllers, gamepad, mouse, or keyboard.
Explore the cell on guided tours or freely discover with your drone-like Fungi Rider.
Listen to Voice-Stations at special points of interest to learn more about the processes you're witnessing.
We've included a controllable cinematic camera to enable virtual video shoots within the environment.
The experience is based on the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, while the environment represents generalized eukaryotic cells.
From PDB to UNREAL ENGINE- our Protein Design Workflow
In a Cell environment, Proteins are the main actors and they are everywhere. So we had to find a way to build a lot of them.
We found a workflow that let us use real scientific data from the Protein Data Bank and transfer it with a few steps into a Game Asset.
OUTREACH
We're honored to be invited to Austria's most remarkable festival for digital arts, the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz.
The positive reactions from visitors confirmed our belief that we can successfully share our fascination with the intricate mechanics of a cell.
Connected Life / Ars Electronica Festival 2025
OUR NEXT PROJECT GOALS
Upon the successful completion of the foundational Cell Environment and player locomotion, we are now transitioning to the next goals. This phase will focus on populating the experience with a variety of engaging content, including biological animations, audio content, and more interactive features.
Biological Animations
A living cell is not only highly dense but also an extremely dynamic environment. This implies that the entire cellular milieu is in constant motion, occurring on millisecond timescales. Incorporating this dynamic aspect of cellular life into our project will necessitate significant refinement of our existing systems, as well as ensuring their operational independence.
Creating Content
We have an existing system of guided tours and audio stations within our cell environment. Our current task is to develop engaging content for those systems. This will require further collaboration with scientists to create compelling narratives and educational content tailored for diverse audiences.
In addition to explaining the cell environment, we aim to explore:
The history of microbiological research
The methodology of scientific research
The production of antibiotics by fungi during their competition with bacteria for resources
And other related topics.
Mini Games
One of the best things about our interactive environment is that people can play! Especially using VR controllers will strongly influence user interaction within the virtual space, creating a significant impact. Aligned with the scientific content, we plan to develop mini-games to emphasize the principle of 'learning through play.' Since our project will be used in lectures and events, we believe the play element will be a big hit with our audiences—and not just for young people.
COMMUNITY SHARING
Because we've built this project on the work of other creators and scientists, we really want to give back. So, we're planning to share parts of the work on www.fab.com and www.github.com , maybe we can build a community around the project to connect people around the topic of using Unreal Engine for Microbiology. We're also excited to see what others create.
