Insects & Us
Insects & Us is an augmented reality story about the importance of insects to planetary health and our own well being.
Featured Scientists: Dr. Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, PhD, Dr. Jessica Ware, PhD, Dr. Andreas Segerer and Peter Smithers.
Insects & Us was directed by Kris Hofmann and produced by Animate Projects.
All 3D content was created and animated by R5 Region Five Media GmbH. Code by Andi Wuthe, sound and music by Marian Mentrup.
The project was funded by the AWS Austrian Wirtschaftsservice and the FFF FilmFernsehFonds Bayern.
Kris Hofmann’s Augmented Reality documentary Insects & Us invites us to explore an animated environment to engage with the interwoven stories of its inhabitants.
Insects serve as food for other animals, pollinate our crops, act as natural pest control agents and play a crucial part in turning dead organic matter into fertile soil.
The numbers and diversity of insects have been in sharp decline over the last few decades. If the trend continues it will dramatically affect human welfare.
Viewers are invited to explore the microcosm of insects — watch crickets, dragonflies, butterflies, beetles, and ants make their simple, yet vital contributions to a functioning ecosystem — whilst listening to four scientists talk about why they matter and what can be done to help.
To find out more about the project and upcoming events, visit insectsandus.com
Kris Hofmann has been working with animation since earning an MA in Communication Art and Design from the Royal College of Art in London in 2010. She moved to Vienna in 2018 and is now focused on the design of Augmented Reality stories and experiences.
Her most recent immersive works are the site-specific Augmented Reality experience The Bookworms (directed and produced for the Austrian National Library in Vienna) and Ready for Red 3D – an interactive learning platform about all things female menstruation.
