Bolivia. Rarely have I actually encountered someone that has traveled to the country, and it certainly has never been high on my priority list. Actually, it’s never even hit my radar screen. I’ll blame that ignorance on a lack of coverage in my national newspaper’s travel section and the few travel mags I pick up over the course of a year. Fortunately, others are more adventurous. Paul Iliffe, his wife and two young children left Chicago in May 2005 on a nine-month adventure to Australia, New Zealand and South America. Today, back from their journey, they’ve taken up residence in London and have just released several DVDs featuring cubic VRs, “Motion VRs” (a QuickTime movie made from a linear sequence of 360-degree images) and photos based on their many adventures and extreme activities along the way. This is no ad-hoc, family-memento DVD however; the Iliffe’s, both experienced VR photographers, set out on their trip with a dual purpose: to combine travel with their passion for VR photography, and share that experience with their children and the rest of the world.
Things I’ve learned about Bolivia since viewing the Ilife’s Bolivia 360 DVD:
- La Paz is strangely beautiful, claustrophobic, and guilt inducing, all at the same time.
- Barren landscapes reminiscent of the moon, with different colored “lagunas” are awesome.
- Deserted frontier towns exist outside of North America!
The DVD includes descriptions for each region before drilling down into the four regions: the Amazon Basin, La Paz, Central Highland, and the Southern Altiplano. Each region features Cubic VRs, Motion VRs and Photos and individual music tracks.
When you click on any VR or photo it opens in a preview pane, along with a short description. For a better look, click the fullscreen view option (available for all the media). The photography is gorgeous and often accompanied by an appropriate soundtrack (howling monkeys, haunting local music, etc.)
Overview of the Sections
Amazon Basin: 1 motion VR, 12 Cubic VRs, 10 photos
The highlights in this section are the frontier town of Rurrenabaque - gateway to the Bolivian Amazon and one of the most bio-diverse areas of the world, the rich, exotic wildlife of the Pampas along the Rio Yacuma, and the dense, luxuriant rainforest of Parque Nacionale Madici.
La Paz: 2 Motion VRs, 18 Cubic VRs, 15 photos
La Paz, “one of the most intoxicating cities in the world boasts a spectacular setting among snow capped Andean peaks and a vibrant atmosphere that has no equal”. This is perhaps the most visually stunning section, with nearby Lake Titicaca, the ancient and mysterious ruins of Tiahuanaco, and the adrenaline-inducing World’s Most Famous Road.
Arguably, the most memorable pano is take high on the hillside overlooking La Paz, where every square foot in view on the hillside is covered with ramshackle housing. Further down in the basin, in the midst of the city, you can see a string of high rises.
Overlooking La PazA close second is the pano shot from the World’s Most Dangerous Road, which plunges 3600m down from La Paz to Caroico, and loses, on average, 26 vehicles per year on the treacherous 64 km road. The motion VR driving along the road overlooking La Paz is entertaining as cars and passers-by zoom by. The second motion VR in this section shows a day at Bolivia’s only public beach on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
World's Most Dangerous RoadCentral Highlands: 21 Cubic VRs, 4 photos
Fertile valleys and peaks of the central highlands host stunning scenery, a proud colonial heritage and fascinating local traditions. Noteworthy here are places like the famous silver mines of Potosi, the whitewashed beauty of Sucre and the colourful Sunday market in Tarabuco. Panos taken inside the Potosi mines depict working conditions that will be shocking to most Westerners. And the Cal Orck’o site, just outside Sucre, is evidence to over 5000 dinosaur tracks on its vertical quarry wall.
Sourthern Altiplano: 2 Motion VRs, 33 Cubic VRs, 12 photos
Stunning and bizarre landscapes are found at the Salar de Uyuni (salt desert) and Reserve de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa, where multicoloured lagunas and volcanic deserts create an otherworldly landscape.
Although the DVD contains some descriptive information, don’t forgo a guidebook; get the DVD for the outstanding panos and photography - all the eye candy you’ll need to get you psyched for your trip.
For the Technically Inclined
All the DVDs were produced using wired QuickTime VRH and LSP and make extensive use of MIAM (Movie in a Movie) with one simple 2.5MB QuickTime movie/interface loading dynamically over 1GB of data (fullscreen cubic VR, fullscreen motion VR, photos, several music tracks, directional sounds, text, buttons, etc.).
Bolivia 360 $19.95, Also available Peru, New Zealand and Australia, $19.95 each.
View the Bolivia demo.
Updated World In Motion VR website
The Iliffe’s have been busy, updating their website in addition to producing the DVDs. New features include:
- Motion VR of the month
- VR Samples page
- Sony Music video that uses their 360 footage
- Free e-card collection
Related News:
The three-minute music video for Anthony Kavanagh’s new single “J’ai vu partir” used a selection of over 60 World in Motion VR panoramas to create the stunning 360° backdrops.
Related Articles:
- TRAVELING THE WORLD IN MOTION VR
