Motionpoems / Chaos on the Green Line

Project description:
For the 2017 Northern Spark Festival, Manufacture partnered with Motionpoems, Pixel Farm and Egg Music to create the world’s first mass transit 360º VR experience, all within the Minneapolis / St. Paul Green Line light rail system. This two-ride experience was a highly experimental proof-of-concept in preparation for a 23-ride VR takeover of the Green Line in 2018. The motion of the train transported participants to a brilliantly imagined world of climate chaos, surrounded by migrating herds of wild animals, and floating clouds. 

Developed entirely by local Mpls producers, animators and technicians and using geolocation data at stops along the line, riders could access and view, via Google Cardboard, a surreal and haunting virtual environment that emulated the train’s actual movement and orientation. 

Client: Motionpoems
Project: Chaos on the Green Line / Northern Spark 2017
Project role: Technical planning, projection, LED walls, lighting design, development resource recruiting
Title: Experience director

Todd Boss is the Artistic Director of Motionpoems, a nonprofit that partners with major publishers and film companies to turn contemporary poems into short films. Todd is a poet, public artist and film producer in Minneapolis. His poems have appeared in THE NEW YORKER, AMERICAN POETRY REVIEW, AND NPR.

https://2017.northernspark.org/projects/chaos-green-line