Roberto Digiglio
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In depth —  2022

SYMBIOSIS

SYMBIOSIS — the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio

Polymorf · Multi-sensory VR performance

Case study

Role · Period
3D Lead DesignerJuly 2020 — August 2021
Brief
Design the world of SYMBIOSIS: a multi-sensory VR performance in which each participant becomes a post-human symbiont, a human–animal or human–machine hybrid.
Delivered
  • Creatures and their reproductive systems
  • Characters, including the Children of Compost
  • Environments and flora, in several variations
  • Design sheets for each species
Outcome
World premiere at IDFA DocLab 2021 (Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam), Special Jury Award for Creative Technology. Then Holland Festival 2022, PAM CUT Portland (US premiere) and SXSW 2023.

SYMBIOSIS is a performative, multi-user, multi-sensory VR experience by the Dutch collective Polymorf: six participants at a time, 45 minutes, with haptic suits, scent and taste becoming part of the story. Each participant embodies a post-human symbiont: a human–animal or human–machine hybrid.

As 3D Lead Designer I spent about a year designing its world: the creatures and their reproductive systems, the characters, among them the Children of Compost, and the environments, down to the flora, with each plant developed in several variations.

SYMBIOSIS premiered at IDFA DocLab 2021 at the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, where it won the Special Jury Award for Creative Technology, and was then presented at the Holland Festival 2022, in Portland (PAM CUT, US premiere) and at SXSW 2023.

Year
2022
Client
Polymorf
Role
3D Lead Designer
Discipline
Creature · Character · Production · VR
Recognition
IDFA DocLab 2021 — Special Jury Award for Creative TechnologyHolland Festival 2022SXSW 2023 — XR Experience Spotlight3D World magazine, issue 288 (2022)

The project online

symbiosis.show — official site ↗Polymorf — SYMBIOSIS ↗IDFA DocLab ↗Holland Festival ↗Teaser on YouTube ↗The book — The Eriskay Connection ↗

Film

Teaser — 2022

Plays from YouTube

The world · 03 designs

Creatures & characters

Symbiosis — Multibody Creature — a creature made of three autonomous organisms, for the SYMBIOSIS VR performance, creature design by Roberto Digiglio
01Multibody Creature2022
Symbiosis — Two-Body Symbiont System — a two-body symbiont creature for the SYMBIOSIS VR performance, creature design by Roberto Digiglio
02Two-Body Symbiont System2022
Symbiosis — Children of Compost — a post-human symbiont character for the SYMBIOSIS VR performance, character design by Roberto Digiglio
03Children of Compost2022

Holland Festival 2022

The performance

Six participants at a time, in haptic suits, wired into the world through scent, taste and touch.

SYMBIOSIS — SYMBIOSIS at the Holland Festival 2022 — Frascati, Amsterdam: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — SYMBIOSIS at the Holland Festival 2022 — Frascati, Amsterdam: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — SYMBIOSIS at the Holland Festival 2022 — Frascati, Amsterdam: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — SYMBIOSIS at the Holland Festival 2022 — Frascati, Amsterdam: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio

48 environment concepts

Flora

The plant life of SYMBIOSIS: trees, shrubs, rocks, fungi and flowers, each one developed in several variations.

SYMBIOSIS — Flora — trees, composition 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — trees, composition 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — trees, composition 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 1, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 1, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 1, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 2, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 2, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 3, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 3, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 4, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 4, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 5, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 5, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — tree 5, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 1, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 1, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 1, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 2, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 2, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 3, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 3, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — shrub 3, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 1, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 1, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 2, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 2, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 2, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 3, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 3, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — rock 3, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 1, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 1, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 1, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 2, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 2, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 2, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 3, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 3, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — mushroom 3, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 1, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 1, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 1, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 2, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 2, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 3, variation 1: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 3, variation 2: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio
SYMBIOSIS — Flora — flower 3, variation 3: the world of the SYMBIOSIS VR performance: creatures, characters and flora, character design by Roberto Digiglio