At the end of 2018, Germany’s last Coal Mine will end its operations – marking nothing less than the end of an era. We ventured into Germany’s industrial heartland, the Ruhr area, for a final descent more than 1200m below ground, scanning the tunnels of Prosper Haniel to preserve this piece of industrial history in volumetric & photorealistic VR for the generations to come.

Starting in lofty heights on the coal preparation plant, users have to find their way to the mining site, passing through the coal mixing dome and lamp storage before descending to the underground train station and from there to the info point and finally, the mining site.
You’ll be guided on your way into the mine way by a ‘Kumpel’, a former miner, manifesting as point cloud and his tales about his former work place (in English or German)

Scanning these 6 locations via photogrammetry and laserscanner was one of the most technically as well as physically challenging scans performed by realities.io up to date, something also never done before – we are proud to take you with us to a place that is truly out of reach!