Entertainment, To Dos

Grand Coulee Dam Virtual Tour

The Grand Coulee Dam was built during the Great Depression and is now entering the future via interactive, 360-degree virtual reality tours becoming available this weekend.

Seattle-based virtual reality company Pixvana partnered with Big Power Project, a content production studio in Seattle, to create the five-minute experience now available at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center.

An overhead view of workers inside G-23, one of the generators in the largest hydropower facility in North America, Grand Coulee Dam. It’s a view not available in physical tours, but is in a new virtual reality tour offered at the dam’s Visitor Center. – photo courtesy of Pixvana

Up to four users at one time can wear Oculus Go headsets that allow them to experience the Grand Coulee Dam from top to bottom as the audio tells facts about the dam.

The 360-degree technology allows the user to look up, down, and around at their “surroundings.”

Filming involved using 360-degree cameras and air and water craft.

“We filmed over the course of two full days during the summer of 2018,” said Ted Youngs, the founder of Big Power Project. “The [Bureau of Reclamation] gave us amazing access. We were the first crew to take drone footage from the dam, and they also allowed us to push the envelope by shooting from an inflatable dinghy from below the 350 foot-plus tall dam face and by attaching our gear to a bridge crane that traversed the almost quarter-mile long Third Power Plant.”

The 360-degree video “brings viewers inside the Dam’s Third Power Plant, showcasing the impressive infrastructure and teaching visitors the inner workings of how hydroelectricity works,” a May 21 press release from Pixvana states.

The company calls the Third Power Plant “one of the largest and most complicated power-generating facilities on the planet,” which can produce enough electricity to power approximately 3 million homes.

Their “fully immersive experience” includes never-before-seen footage that “spans from the top of the dam, inside the water-fed generators, all the way down the 5,000-foot-long face – and everywhere in between,” the release said.

“The Grand Coulee Dam is one of the most fascinating facilities in the country, but high security, the extremely loud volume of operation, and other physical barriers make it difficult to experience live,” said Rachel Lanham, Chief Operating Officer for Pixvana. “[VR helps] viewers learn in an exciting new way that increases retention, memory, and empathy. An immersive VR tour … allows the facility to engage its visitors, in a fun, low-cost, impactful way.”

A video available at https://spinxr.com/VGRFFQDRX allows people to watch the video on their computer, and click and drag to look around 360 degrees.

Pixvana, founded in 2015, has been involved in virtual reality videos for training waitstaff on a cruise ship, virtual reality therapy, and entertainment projects for NBC Universal.

Big Power Project, founded in 2018, does work ranging from virtual reality to documentaries to large scale installations, according to their website.

Events, Soon

Colorama coming right up

Two kids take a carnival ride Thursday night of Colorama.

Our area’s big kickoff to the upcoming season — warm weather, hikes, swimming, camping — is about to kickoff with the our big annual festival. It’s Colorama time next week, when the carnival comes to town, runners lace up those shoes, cowboys ride into town and people line the streets of Grand Coulee for the parade.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect. We’ll get into more detail with a special section in next week’s Star.

Rainier Amusements will again bring in the carnival, as they did last year, beginning Thursday, May 9, at 4 p.m.

Presale tickets are still available for less money than you’ll pay at the carnival.

The Colorama Color Run is set for 9-11 a.m. Saturday, May 11, at North Dam Park. You can register online or in person for the 5K event that gives you the option of adding a whole lot of bright color to your outfit before heading to the big Colorama Parade.

That starts at 11 a.m., but a lot of people find their parking spots the night before all along the route, which winds down Federal Avenue and turns onto Midway in front of The Star.

That morning, the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center offer their Cowboy Breakfast from 7-11 a.m. to give you enough fuel to get to the day’s events.

Those can also include the arts and crafts fair at North Dam Park, an event so successful the last few years that the chamber has turned away some aspiring vendors.

The Ridge Riders’ Pro-West Rodeo starts Friday night at 6 p.m., then again on Saturday at 4 p.m. with kids’ stick-horse racing and “mutton bustin’” prior to each event.

All through the festival, helicopter rides will be offered from the upper ball field at North Dam Park.

And the chamber will again offer a Beer Garden at the park, which has become an annual meeting place for friends old and new.

For more information on events and times, check the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce website.

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Keller Ferry out of service for hull repairs April 1 – 7

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The “Sanpoil” on Lake Roosevelt shortly before being put into service.

KELLER – The Keller Ferry vessel, M/V Sanpoil, will be out of service for hull repairs beginning 6 a.m. Monday, April 1 until Sunday, April 7.

The M/V Sanpoil was previously removed from service on Friday, Jan. 25, to undergo emergency hull repair while a longer-term fixes were developed and coordinated with the US Coast Guard. The scheduled work is for more comprehensive repairs. A temporary fix was provided and approved by the United States Coast Guard.

Those who are planning trips across the Columbia River on State Route 21 should choose an alternate route via state routes 25, 155 and 174.

Before heading out the door, travelers can find highway conditions and service changes for the Keller Ferry on the WSDOT Travel Alerts page, mobile app and Twitter at @WSDOT_East.