Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame

The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame is Australia’s premier outback heritage institution. Located in remote Longreach, Queensland, Australia, this museum pays tribute to pioneers of the Australian outback. The museum brings to life the rugged Australian landscape in its galleries by showcasing the incredible and often unknown stories of everyday unsung heroes of the bush.
‍
In 2019, the museum kicked off the largest project in its 30-year history, a massive redevelopment of the buildings and exhibition space. Art Processors lead this creative and digital transformation. Working with the Art Processors team, I spearheaded the creation of a large-scale immersive, realtime activation in the “Welcome Station” at the entrance to the exhibition where visitors are met by a virtual drover and his kelpies.
‍
This Motion-controlled activation with its spatial soundscape put visitors inside an interactive scene from an outback station. This living scene intermingles the sounds heard on a cattle station with those heard daily in Longreach. Vistitors get a glimpse into this world whilst they are standing there. It's just on sunset with the drover, his horse, cattle, as his friendly kelpies racing after your every move.
‍
Built on top of the Unity realtime engine and utilising the latest Microsoft depth cameras, the 10 metre wall displays two virtual dogs that follow the visitors as they enter the exhibition. The more active the movements, the more active the dogs are. Raising your arms make the dogs jump into the air. If you get up close and hold out your hand, the dog will shake hands. If you brought a friend, you will each have a dog following you. These virtual doggies are truely captivating making visitors pause and have a play around.
‍
My role in the team was as a lead creative, directing this interactive from concept, to prototype, to large scale implementation, to installation in the gallery. I created 2d concept art, 3d models, animation rigs and animation clips for drovers, cattle, sheep, horses and kelpies. I directed the realtime interactive elements, working closely with the developer and directed the implementation of the tracking technology and sound scape.
‍
This project was extra special to me because when I was younger, our family dog was a Kelpie, the same as the one in the piece. I see this piece as being a tribute to Toby, the dog that brought so much happiness to our family.
‍
This project is a great example of how you can take a few pieces of technology, creatively combine them and tell a story in a unique way. If you ever travel to the “outback,” make sure you stop by and play with our dogs and let me know what you think.