Immersive 360° documentary
AzulVivo
Enter the reef. Stay long enough to notice it is alive.
Filmed underwater in San Andrés and Providencia, Presence places the viewer inside the Seaflower reef through nine minutes of sustained 360° observation. There is no presenter leading the way and no frame deciding exactly where to look. Coral, sharks, schools of fish, open water and nearly invisible forms of life unfold around the viewer at their own pace.
Filmed · Approximately 9 minutes · Institutional VR edition in post-production · Fulldome edition coming soon
The camera enters the reef. Then it waits for the reef to forget it is there.
Chapter one · Seaflower
Presence
Presence has already been filmed underwater in San Andrés and Providencia. The institutional VR edition is in post-production. A dedicated fulldome edition is coming soon.
The chapter is built around attention rather than explanation. Large forms appear first—coral, sharks, schools of fish, open water—then quieter activity becomes visible when the viewer is given time to remain.
Private previews are being prepared for museums, science centres, aquariums, planetariums, educators, funders and potential project partners.
The fulldome edition is not a conversion of the headset film. It is a separate presentation edition being reauthored for collective viewing in planetariums and dome theatres.
- Chapter
- Presence
- Filmed in
- San Andrés and Providencia
- Duration
- Approximately 9 minutes
- VR edition
- Institutional edition in post-production
- Fulldome edition
- Coming soon · Curator interest open
- Languages planned
- English, French and Spanish
Two ways to enter the work
One immersive film. Two forms of presence.
Azul Vivo is created for both individual and collective immersion. In VR, one viewer enters the reef and chooses where to look. In the fulldome edition, an entire audience is placed inside the same living environment. The architecture of the theatre becomes part of the image, allowing coral, open water, schools of fish and passing animals to extend around the room.
VR
One viewer inside the reef
The VR edition gives each participant an individual field of attention. There is no fixed frame deciding what must be seen first. The viewer discovers the environment by looking, waiting and noticing what unfolds in every direction.
- · Approximately 9 minutes
- · Institutional VR edition in post-production
- · Designed for repeated public and educational presentation
Fulldome
The reef at the scale of the room
The fulldome edition transforms Presence into a shared cinematic experience for planetariums and dome theatres. The film is being reauthored for collective viewing, with timing, composition, gaze, sound and transitions designed specifically for the dome.
- · Fulldome edition coming soon
- · Curator interest now open
- · Planetariums, science centres and immersive theatres
What the viewer experiences
From spectacle to sustained attention
01
Immediate presence
Coral, large animals, open water and schools of fish establish the scale of the environment without a narrator deciding where attention must go.
02
Quiet activity
As the chapter continues, marine plants, distant fish and smaller forms of life become visible when the viewer has time to remain.
03
Shared discovery
In VR, each person chooses a path of looking. In the dome, the audience shares one space while noticing different details within it.
04
After the encounter
The chapter ends, but observation, comparison and questions can continue in a classroom, museum programme or public discussion.
Why 360°
An environment without a conventional frame
Underwater, there is no stage front and no single “correct” direction to face. Life continues above, beside and behind the camera. Spherical cinematography preserves that condition instead of forcing the ocean into one framed view.
That quality serves both individual VR attention and collective fulldome presentation—two ways of entering the same filmed environment.
The VR edition places one person inside the reef. The fulldome edition places the entire room inside it.
360°
Drag to look around
1 / 4
How it was filmed
Stationary observation inside the reef
Presence was filmed with a method that privileges waiting over pursuit. The camera enters the reef, then remains long enough for the environment to continue around it.
Local guides in San Andrés and Providencia shaped access, safety and respect for the marine environment during production.
The same 360° source cinematography now informs two presentation editions: institutional VR in post-production, and a fulldome edition in development.
For institutions
Built for public and educational presentation
Presence is being prepared for museums, science centres, aquariums, planetariums, festivals and nonprofit programmes.
- Institutional VR installations and facilitated sessions
- Planetarium and fulldome programming
- School, library and museum learning programmes
- Festivals, conferences and special public events
Current phase
Private previews and early curator conversations are open while the institutional VR edition completes post-production and the fulldome edition advances in development.
For education
Experience first. Inquiry follows.
The immersive chapter creates the encounter. Educator resources then help learners describe what they noticed and connect it to ecology, systems thinking and media literacy.
- Guided classroom discussion
- Museum and aquarium interpretation
- Ocean-literacy programmes
- Sponsored access for schools and nonprofits
Hardware should not be the barrier
Institutions may use compatible headsets they already own, acquire supported enterprise devices, or request a turnkey kit—subject to technical validation.
Series direction
A coherent future, led by a real first chapter
Presence is the completed filming foundation. Future chapters extend the observational approach into new marine systems and themes.
In development
The Current
The Current is conceived around Galápagos and would explore the invisible forces that gather life and connect environments.
Future chapter theme
Time
How reefs, geological structures, wrecks and living environments transform across scales that human observation rarely captures.
Future chapter theme
Kinship
How marine life is sustained through shelter, feeding, movement, dependence, competition and exchange.
Future chapter theme
Repair
How scientists, divers and local communities intervene in damaged environments—and where the limits of human control remain.
Future chapter themes are research and development directions. They must not overshadow the filmed reality of Presence.
Created by
Immersive filmmaking from inside the environment
Azul Vivo was created by Saël Simard, a Montreal-based interactive system architect, filmmaker and advanced diver working across immersive media, spatial storytelling and exhibition technology.
The project brings together underwater field production, 360° cinematography, sound, interactive development and institutional experience design.
The first chapter was filmed with local guides in San Andrés and Providencia. The complete project is being developed as both a cinematic work and a practical platform for public presentation.
Experience the first chapter
Private previews of Presence are being prepared for museums, science centres, aquariums, planetariums, educators, funders and potential project partners.
In post-production · San Andrés and Providencia