How many Canberra architects can say they're the visionary behind Santa Claus's house at the North Pole?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
As of today, there's at least one.
Reality in Bytes director and local architect Alex D'Ambrosio has spent the past six months working on a dream project - he's drawn up plans for not only the Claus's house but also an entire Santa Village.
Reality in Bytes' new website - homewithsanta.com - is a virtual interactive village designed to allow parents and children to explore the joy of Christmas in 3D. Virtual locations from across the village work across mobile and desktop devices, but you'll get the best experience by walking around with an iPad, donning a set of virtual reality goggles or some Google cardboard. The experience is also available on Facebook.
Santa and Mrs Claus's ensuite? Check.
North Pole post office? Check.
Kitchen Rules in Mrs Claus's Cafe? Check.
Lookout post at the toy factory? Check.
You can even explore the North Pole art gallery - where portraits of Nelson Mandela and Anne Frank hang side-by-side in the 'Nice' Hall of Fame.
According to Alex, the idea for Home With Santa was born while trying to explain Christmas in July to his children.
"My daughter asked what Christmas in July was and I was having issues trying to explain it so we jumped online," he said.
"We had a look at the Christmas websites - and there were only a few - and they were all targeted at ages three to four but she loved it and I thought 'we can do something a lot better than that'.
"It's targeted toward kids and the magic of Santa, but in a medium that parents will engage with and want to explore anywhere, at anytime."
According to Alex, each scene from Santa's Village - including a Reindeer Barn, Elf Dorm and North Pole Command Centre - has taken months to design and build by a team of architects, designers, 3D artists, animators and web developers working in Australia and overseas.
Reality in Bytes is one of a number of Canberra companies specialising in the design and build of virtual reality environments - earlier this year the company built virtual sales apartments for Geocon's Southport development in Greenway and a recreation of Canberra Brickworks in 1926.
Home with Santa was built as a way to showcase the company's skills, but Alex is hoping to monetise the site by working on native content advertising opportunities with global brands.
"More than 160 countries celebrate Christmas worldwide and we have the ability to localise advertising to people in specific countries or even cities," he said.
"We'd love to see big retailers incorporating toys into the toy factory or supermarkets sponsoring the menu of Mrs Claus's cafe."
Alex said upcoming projects for Reality in Bytes included a virtual exploration of the Easter Bunny's house, as well as a virtual landing at Anzac Cove, launched in time for Anzac Day 2017.