Flightsimulation 1890
Virtual Reality Ulm Experience

The first ever developed 3D world for the Birdly flight simulator. Through Virtual Reality, the user can explore the historic city of Ulm in 1890. At the heart of the experience is the highest steeple in the world – the Ulm Minster. A cathedral 500 years in the making.

The aim was to create a unique VR Experience. In the context of “The City of the Future 2030”, the installation is supposed to give both inhabitants and tourists of Ulm the chance to explore the historic city from a bird’s perspective. For this purpose, the concept, design and development team became deeply acquainted with the city of Ulm and the action of flying. In order to visualize the historical city as realistic and impactful as possible, even the most minor of details were created to determine the historic townscape.


Based on an original city map from 1890, the artists recreated Ulm across an area of 1,5 km2. Within six months, around 2.000 historical houses were modeled, textured and placed by hand along with 6.000 further objects – one at a time. Along with tailor-made shaders and lightmaps, the team brought Ulm of 1890 back to life. Since its opening, each month more than fifteen hundred people are experiencing their very own dream of flying, in the very center of Ulm, Germany.