Lignite Mining 360°

Lignite is a much discussed topic. Many people talk about lignite, about the protest and about the exit. The Hambach Forest has become "the Hambi". And the landscape consumption of opencast lignite mining is described in public more than ever before as the destruction of nature and habitat. With "Tagebau 360°", we are working together with WDR to offer users the opportunity to see for themselves: Experience the unique world on your desktop PC, smartphone, tablet or even in virtual reality with your own VR headset.

Tagebau 360° takes users on a journey through the almost unreal world of opencast lignite mining. As soon as users enter the project, they will see the enormous scale of an open pit mine. The live rendered 3D map of the lignite mining area is the hub of the experience. The CGI rendered map acts as the main navigation - from here, users can dive into each scene and get the first information about the topic directly on the map. Users can experience over 30 interactive 360° scenes in this WebXR Experience. In the process, they can ask the protagonists questions and thus learn everything about the world in a playful way.

The presenter Donya Farahani takes the users on a journey through lignite. With a neutral view (as far as possible) the users learn together with Donya everything from the extraction of coal to the protest in the Hambach forest - the Hambi. Tagebau 360° takes users into the tree houses of activists as well as into the cab of the largest digger in the world. Visitors can take 360° drone flights to view the ghost village of Manheim-alt, which had to make way for the pit mine, or talk to former residents on the streets of Manheim.

The 360° Virtual Reality Experience is usable on all popular devices. From smartphones, to tablets, to stationary desktop PCs, or laptops - the software recognizes which device it is controlling and displays the content accordingly. The experience even recognizes virtual reality headsets and, thanks to the latest WebXR technology, lets users enter the world as if they were there themselves. Whether wired or via mobile VR solutions.

For the first time in one of our projects, we integrated push messages in WDR Tagebau 360°. Based on a complex logic, for example at certain points, after a certain time or after users have triggered various interactions, we play out push messages in the project - text messages, directly from Donya. These are intended to provide entertainment on the one hand, but on the other hand reveal additional information, providing users with everything they need to know that goes beyond the actual 360° WebVR experience. This specially developed system, together with the generally learned mechanics of the news, thus provides users with a very special immersive experience. You're not alone in the pit.

How do you clearly present the interrelationships of coal production and its enormous scale without being a textbook graphic? This was the question we were faced with when we started this project. So the idea was born to make it modern and interactive. We reworked the areas according to exact geo-data and stylized them a bit, so that the 3D map would work on the web. Besides the true-to-scale size, users can see diggers in action on the map and navigate through the entire world. In doing so, the context of coal mining becomes clear.

The biggest digger in the world, the biggest hole in Germany and Schumacher's first go-kart track. The production of WDR Tagebau 360° had its work cut out for it. For days and weeks, our production team was recording in Garzweiler open pit mine, the surrounding villages or in the Hambach Forest. With self-developed 360° video camera rigs, large 360° video drones and of course off-road vehicles - as well as the new e-cross motorcycle finally came into use. A successful production that will probably remain in the memory of all participants for a long time.

The project also offers a special feature: this application is also aimed specifically at schoolchildren, because it contains learning material with which schoolchildren from grade 9 onwards can deal with the topic and interact in the world of open-cast mining. Worksheets, discussion groups as well as the appropriate material for teachers - this and much more has been prepared by educators on this topic.
Distance learning and homeschooling are on everyone's lips, and Learning 2.0 is the measure of all things. WDR Braunkohle 360° offers modern teaching paired with a lot of fun.
You can use the teaching material for collaborative learning in heterogeneous learning groups. You get the worksheets partly in two levels and as an accessible PDF package with form fields and tags for screen readers.

To the teaching material