The Walls Remember - (Personal Project 2024)

🎥 Project: The Walls Remember 🎥
📍 Explore the Virtual 360° Tour Here: https://seanscrafts.github.io/Virtual360AsylumTour/
(Don't forget to turn around as you explore!)

About the Project
Much of the work we do in film often remains unseen for years until it’s released for broadcast. Personal projects like this one allow me to showcase my skills and experiment with new tools.

When I discovered that the beautiful neighborhood I had moved into was once the site of the Provincial Asylum for the Insane, established in 1878, and later Woodlands School for individuals with developmental disabilities, I was struck by the weight of its history. The stories embedded in places like the "Window Too High" sculpture and the memorial garden inspired me to bring this past to life.

What began as a plan for an augmented reality experience led me to build a virtual set based on the floorplan of the memorial garden. While the technology to fully realize the AR concept isn’t quite there yet, the project evolved into a 360° virtual tour—an immersive way to explore and reflect on this history. One day, I hope to revisit the AR idea as technology advances.

Behind the Scenes
Tools Used: Unreal Engine, Rhino, Blender, and Marzipano.
Access: Virtual360AsylumTour
(Best experienced with a 360° viewer for full immersion.)
Acknowledgments
🎶 A special thank you to the 6 to 9-year-old choir students from the Conservatoire de Nanterre for their beautiful performance of Le château dans les nuages, as well as their teacher and Kevin Luce.

Recording by: Kevin Luce (kevp888)
Source: Freesound
License: Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
"Special thanks to the teachers and students of Conservatoire de Nanterre for their beautiful performance."

📸 Media
A video capturing the tour is also available here.
2D stills of the 360° environment are included, though we highly recommend the interactive tour for the full experience.
I hope this project blends history, storytelling, and digital tools to reimagine a forgotten and often dark past. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!