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Indigenous

Ngā Atua Māori come to life through AR project

Tech giant Meta, formerly Facebook, has partnered with a Māori-owned business to bring to life Ngā Atua Māori - an innovative and interactive way of telling the ancient Māori creation story.

The Ngā Atua Māori experience has been conceptualised and creatively led by  Lee Timutimu, founder of Arataki systems, in collaboration with Māui Studios.

“It’s been a real pleasure partnering with Meta on this project,” Timutimu says.

“I was particularly impressed at how respectful and culturally aware the Meta team were right throughout the course of this project.”

The whānau-owned business has innovatively used AR (augmented reality) storytelling to provide a brief glimpse into the Māori world. The launch took place during New Zealand's hosting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) and highlights the importance of Indigenous economies and culture to the region, which has 70% of the world's Indigenous communities.

"It's about looking through your camera and then being able to bring these digital characters like our atua into the real world so you can engage and participate."

Ngā Atua Māori AR experience

The Ngā Atua Māori AR experience brings to life 3D animated characters that represent five of the Māori gods and tells their stories through an AR world effect. There is also a 2D AR face effect that enables users to also create their own Instagram Story inspired by the Māori creation story.

The effect starts by introducing Ranginui - the Sky Father and Papatūānuku - the Earth Mother. Through this story, the user is then introduced to five of the more commonly known Māori gods - Tangaroa, god of oceans and seas; Rūaumoko, god of earthquakes and volcanoes; Tāwhirimātea, god of wind and weather; Tūmatauenga, god of war; and Tāne; god of forests and birds. These represent five of the more than 70 gods in Māori storytelling.