By Dr. Millicent Young

On Saturday, March 11, 2023, a team of volunteers: Pepper, Swan, Amber, Myra, Jinju, Debbie, Pichamon and Ajarn Laird Allan joined Dr. Millicent Young in Lumphini Park to record data – sounds, photographs, 360°video and drawings of the park flora and fauna life.

Lumphini Park, situated in the center of Bangkok, is a popular place for exercise and recreation. It is well known for the monitor lizards, crows, and an unusually large amount of cats. The field trip was part of the on-going production process that is developing visual concept art for the Biophilia 360° animation.

The project is funded by a SEED grant from Mahidol University International College (MUIC) as part of the Research Cluster. The 360° immersive animation will be an edutainment tool to encourage curiosity and observation skills in Thai high school students. The data collected will be used in the creation of a hand drawn 360° animation that reflects real places with authentic flowers, plants, trees, animals and birds to deliver an immersive experience that encourages the viewers’ observation and curiosity-driven questioning skills that are  important for developing scientific thinking. This is in keeping with the biophilia hypothesis and values of our human need for nature in our lives.

The whole process of this production, through to the eventual immersive experience, is a shared collective experience that opens infinite possibilities to create a meaningful universe, a believable place where the narratives can unfold, and where the participants can be taken on imaginative journeys in nature.