Helios Designs One Millionth Tower

Created by The National Film Board of Canada, One Millionth Tower is the result of unique collaboration between apartment residents, architects, animators, filmmakers and web developers to re-envision what a declining highrise neighbourhood could be. One Millionth Tower is a lush visual story unfolding in a 3D virtual environment where visitors to the online documentary can explore how participatory urban design can transform spaces, places and minds.

 

“One Millionth Tower is the sum of the labours of many,” says Mike Robbins, Creative Technologist at Helios Design Labs. “The exciting part is realising what possibilities this technology opens up.”

 

When Helios joined the team, they took the linear story and placed it into a 3D environment, eliminating a traditional video player and allowing viewers to explore and discover the experience for themselves. 

 

Helios then designed a complex audio control mechanism that mixes dozens of different tracks based on camera position and time of day to create a fully immersive soundscape. 

 

Next an additional layer of contextual information was added by integrating social media, Google Street and Satellite View, Flickr and Wikipedia. The site even listens to the weather, so if it’s raining outside, it’s raining in here too.

 

“As we built the site entirely in HTML5 and WebGL, it means that not only does the entire experience happen on a web page, without any plug-ins or apps, it can also works seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices, regardless of operating system.” explains Robbins. “Our work on One Millionth Tower is at the forefront of a growing movement to turn the browser into the ultimate app, changing the way we’ll create and interact with online digital content.” 

 

HTML5 is perfect platform for anyone who uses flash or digital video as a marketing tool, and is interested in making in impact through the web. HTML5 is being used for making games, creating music videos, telling stories, or offering up just plain visual excitement.