«HanaHana Virandola» at Hackaton SNX.VR (Brasil)

«HanaHana» is a virtual reality universe created by Swiss artist Melodie Mousset, who currently lives in Zurich, Switzerland. On August 16 and 18, 2019, the project was hosted by the Hackaton SNX.VR, an event organized by Swissnex-RJ (Brazil), a space for the exchange of knowledge regarding education, research and innovation between Brazil and Switzerland.  

Conquering a series of awards and circulating in several countries, «HanaHana», launched in 2017, presents a complex field of creative possibilities based on sensory stimulation. The program activates the mind, body and the senses, providing individual experiences in a surreal and post-human atmosphere.  

Inspired by a fruit ingested by Nico Robin, heroine of the manga One Piece, the player, just like Nico, can enter the world of Hana Hana and replicate their hands – an element chosen to symbolize the creative force – in a desert environment that, as the experience progresses in time, reveals surprising places.  

 In its first time hosted in Latin America, the project had an open call to invite artists, musicians, sound designers, game designers, 3D developers and coders to contribute with movements, sounds, visual arts and various other devices, adding to the complexity of the program’s extensions as well as its gameplay memory.

For this edition of Hackaton SNX.VR, «HanaHana» was presented with Virandola, a device created by neuroscientist Bruno Herbelin, which can be activated through breathing. Coupled with a virtual reality headset, it captures the air produced by breathing (“girandola”, in Italian, means mill), creating new possibilities of interaction.