Valtakunnan liitto is a groundbreaking, futuristic biofiction for two people to experience at a time. Enter a space where reality and fiction merge through the sense of hearing.
Enter a space where reality and fiction merge through the sense of hearing. Audio Augmented Reality (AAR), or sound-based augmented reality, combines virtual sounds with the real world. This overlap changes our perception and interpretation of the environment, objects and fellow humans. A personal layer of virtual sounds is created on a computer and transmitted wirelessly to the experiencer’s headphones. The sounds merge seamlessly with reality — and an illusion is created: you can’t be sure what is real and what is fiction.
Valtakuntan liitto is a groundbreaking biofiction that utilizes future technology for two experiencers at a time. It is set in a commercial space in central Helsinki, which has housed, among others, Pesula Vaahto, the legendary Pilailu shop and currently the WHS’s Unika gallery. Vaahto links the physical space to its history, the laundry owner’s marriage, and the enigmatic Valtakunnan liitto — an underground far-right organization that in the 1940s dreamed of a Finland like Nazi Germany. But who can you trust when love and ideology mix?
Emma Castrén and Jorma Tommila, known for their films Sisu, star in the lead roles. Valtakunnan liitto is part of WHS’s artistic research project that explores the narrative and technical possibilities of voice-based augmented reality. The project is led by AAR expert Matias Harju, whose new book on the subject will be published at the end of May. The project has received support from the EU’s NextGenEU programme.
Script and direction: Matias Harju and Ville Walo
Production: Ville Walo
Background research for the story: Anne Jämsä and Ville Walo
Sound design and AAR narrative research: Matias Harju
Programming: Miranda Kastemaa, Mikko Honkanen and Matias Harju
Musicians: Okko Kivikataja, Timo Latonen, Sami Mäkelä, Klaara Pyrhönen
Music recording: Leevi Kohonen / Finnvox