Entertainment industry heavyweights partner up to bring Renaissance plot to room-scale VR.

Michael Conelly is a prolific visual effects designer. Throughout his two decades working as Digital Effects Supervisor at Rhythm and Hues Studios, Conelly and the studio worked on everything from the Coca Cola Polar Bears and Babe the talking Pig, to The Golden Compass, Harry Potter, and Pi, among other projects. Conelly’s last film, Snow White and the Huntsman, was nominated for an Oscar for best visual effects.

Now, Connely has turned his attention to the immersive storytelling space, having founded Blackthorn Media in 2013. Their first two VR projects The Abbot’s Book and Dragonflight featured at the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals, so not a bad start, but it turns out his long-term ambitions are much bigger.

“Blackthorn is a small core of some of the most talented folks I’ve ever worked with. We founded the company to work on narrative storytelling in room-scale VR—to really push on the highest end of what is possible in the medium,” he says.

The Abbot’s Book and Dragonflight featured at the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals
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The latest experience which he created, directed and produced, is called Caliban Below a small piece of the larger story contained in The Abbot’s Book – which he published several years ago. It takes place in the northern mountains of Renaissance Italy, and tells the story of four generations of a broken family and how they respond to the corrupting power of a strange book that is dug up from a labyrinth of catacombs beneath their home.

“Deep down, The Abbot’s Book and Caliban Below are telling a story about a family’s struggle to undo its failures. It is full of spectacle and pretty wild realms of imagination, but the beating heart of the story is about the harm that comes when love is overpowered by avarice and desperation.”

An expanded version of Caliban Below including a re-release of the original novella, story extensions, as well as enhanced sound design is set to be released this Fall, but the currently available experience was specifically designed to accommodate people totally new to the medium, as well as veteran VR journeyers.

“There are really not a lot of folks out there doing narrative in 6DOF room-scale storytelling. I find the medium utterly compelling from a story standpoint. Our main goal is to let our visitors experience and participate in a narrative.”

There are really not a lot of folks out there doing narrative in 6DOF room-scale storytelling
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The trick to accomplishing that, he believes, is to find the right balance of agency, plot, and pacing so that people can feel immersed in the story without being either overwhelmed or bored.

“My wish is to leave you with a satisfying sort of lucid dream, but also with a bunch of questions about what the larger world is. I love this notion of a-la-carte storytelling—there is exactly as much there as you wish to experience and you can go at your own pace, finish quickly if you like or dwell in the details. Some folks finish Caliban Below in 10 minutes and others in 60—and everyone comes out understanding the core story. I do hope the recipe we’ve cooked up here starts to zero in on a future model for VR, which is appealing to movie and TV lovers, as well as gamers. If it succeeds, it will be because people really feel the characters and the world in ways more immediate and enveloping than they have with other media. That is the promise of VR and it is why we have stuck around to tell these stories when much of the world has gone off to chase the AR trend.”

The project also managed to entice another entertainment industry veteran. Paula Fairfield worked on sound design for many noteworthy productions such as mother! and Game of Thrones, and had previously worked with Connely on Snow White and the Huntsman and collaborated with him on Dragonflight (which of course made perfect sense given her GoT experience).

“I do highly detailed work in my linear projects and VR is the perfect platform to unleash the dimensionality of this kind of work. But, the (spatial sound) technology is clunky and a bit of an afterthought to the graphics at present. However, that makes for a very interesting playground. And I’m well into it now! It is super exciting to place a sound in a VR space and walk around it.  As crazy as that seems, it’s like magic and crack to me. I now dream of 48 hour days.”

The trick is to find the right balance of agency, plot, and pacing so that people feel immersed in the story without being overwhelmed or bored
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If VR is going to match the larger arc of movies, I hope The Abbot’s Book comes to be something like the Citizen Kane of the medium
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This has been a labour of love done on a shoestring, and Conelly’s hope is that it will turn enough heads to enable the larger project to get made.

“It is a very ambitious chunk of work—there is a lot of story to tell, and if we’re going to tell it, we want to tell it right. Caliban Below is just a tiny glimmer of what is to come. If VR is going to match the larger arc of movies, I hope The Abbot’s Book comes to be something like the Citizen Kane of the medium. It makes me ache inside knowing how much is possible, but not having the resources to get it all out there for people to experience—not just yet anyway…hopefully soon!”

This article was originally published on VRScout

Creating Immersive À La Carte Storytelling With VR via @alicebonasio https://t.co/Et5Rkj858q pic.twitter.com/O52exvqZRc

— VRScout (@VRScout) September 11, 2018

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Experiencing Epic Storytelling in VR appeared first on Tech Trends.

New CreativeXR funding programme awards £3500 for the development of immersive storytelling projects.

Digital Catapult and Arts Council England just announced the shortlisted five projects that will receive a total of £350,000 in funding to develop immersive storytelling experiences. The funding provided by the programme was achieved alongside match funding and support from a range of creative technology and cultural organisations such as Innovate UK and Immerse UK, and is part of a broader effort to support the development of the UK’s VR industry, which is expected to grow by 76% to reach £801m by 2021, making it the largest and fastest-growing VR industry of any country in EMEA.

Digital Catapult and Arts Council England just announced the shortlisted five projects that will receive a total of £350,000 in funding to develop immersive storytelling experiences
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These projects have all graduated from the CreativeXR programme, which was created to encourage content makers to explore creative storytelling in immersive mediums such as Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality. Designed to raise artistic and technical ambition, the programme has enabled the development of new skills, tools and business opportunities. Teams have been given workshops and marketplace events with industry leaders as well as access to Digital Catapult Immersive Labs in London, Brighton, North East Tees Valley and Belfast.

These projects have all graduated from the CreativeXR programme, which was created to encourage content makers to explore creative storytelling in immersive mediums such as Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality
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Run by the organisations in collaboration with commercial partners including Google, BBC and Sky, the programme is dedicated to supporting the development of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) products and their application within the creative industries. When it launched in October 2017, over 1,000 teams registered their interest, with 250 submitting proposals for the Open Call.

Experiences range from letting you participate in the ‘Dambusters’ mission to an interactive theatre journey which puts viewers in the shoes of a father and son coming to terms with the onset of dementia
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This pool was finally narrowed to a group of 20 – no easy task according to Jeremy Silver, CEO of technology innovation centre Digital Catapult. The final five projects will now have the chance to develop those projects further with this funding, making those experiences publicly available.

These experiences range from letting you participate in the famous ‘Dambusters’ mission to an interactive theatre journey which puts viewers in the shoes of a father and son coming to terms with the onset of dementia.

“CreativeXR has allowed content creators to focus on R&D and develop riskier projects aimed at the arts and culture space,” says Silver. “The value of taking these projects to full production will be both in surfacing new creative approaches and ways of working, but also in stimulating commissioners and giving confidence to investors in this new medium, where the UK has such world leading strengths.”

CreativeXR has allowed content creators to focus on R&D and develop riskier projects aimed at the arts and culture space
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The successful projects all use immersive technologies, combined with a range of traditional storytelling techniques such as documentary, poetry and theatre to provide audiences with unprecedented cultural experiences. The funded projects are:

• Fatherland by Limbik, Norwich & Portsmouth: An interactive theatre experience using real-time motion capture and VR technology that brings to life the journey of a son and father coming to terms with dementia and disembodiment in a modern world. Completed in partnership with University of Portsmouth.
• Traitor by Pilot Theatre, York: A two-player interactive high stakes thriller, combining VR with live action, completed with support from Pilot Theatre
• When Something Happens by Boom Clap Play, Belfast: An epic journey through the history of the cosmos – from the big bang to modern life – written and narrated by poet Boston Williams. Completed with support from Northern Ireland Screen and Northern Ireland Science Festival
• Immersive Histories by All Seeing Eye Ltd, Stroud: An immersive VR experience allowing an audience to physically step into history and experience the famous ‘Dambusters’ mission from on board Guy Gibson’s Lancaster. Completed with support from Other Set and the RAF Museum
• Municipal Dreams (working title) by VR CITY LTD, London: An immersive journey into the complicated history of the notorious Aylesbury Estate, using stereoscopic 360 video, photogrammetry and 3D modelling. Completed with support from Royal Holloway University, Creation Trust and IDFA

“Each of the five organisations are developing cutting edge, immersive content, and are illustrating what the UK can contribute to this growing global market. In time, we look forward to audiences enjoying the immersive experiences that they are creating; connecting with art, history and culture in ground-breaking new ways,” adds Francis Runacres, Executive Director of Enterprise and Innovation, Arts Council England.

The UK has a history of supporting budding sectors with such projects and initiatives, and it has proven a highly successful strategy both from a creative perspective and in boosting the Creative Industries, which account for a large proportion of the nation’s GDP. It will be interesting to see if an how other countries such as the US follow suit in fostering innovative immersive content production.

The UK’s VR industry is expected to grow by 76% to reach £801m by 2021, making it the largest and fastest-growing of any country in EMEA
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This article originally appeared on The Next Web

Investing in creative storytelling https://t.co/etb4RQx9s0

— TNW Contributors (@TNWcontributors) July 30, 2018

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Supporting Creative Storytelling in VR appeared first on Tech Trends.

Immersive storytelling doesn’t need huge budgets – it’s about graft and creativity.

When the storms of nature kill Camila’s papá, the viewer must help her create clouds for the burning world below
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In 2016, straight out of high school, Jak Wilmot started one of Atlanta’s first VR animation studios – Disrupt. They are now releasing an interactive VR experience called La Camila, about a young shepherd girl struggling to fill the shoes of her father.

In 2016, straight out of high school, Jak Wilmot started Disrupt, one of Atlanta's first VR animation studios
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The 20-minute interactive tale takes place on a fantasy Chilean village above the clouds where a young shepherd girl lives
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The 20-minute interactive tale takes place on a fantasy Chilean village above the clouds where a young shepherd girl lives. When the storms of nature kill Camila’s papá, the viewer must help her create clouds for the burning world below.

“La Camila is set in a bright & colorful world, but going deeper, it’s a story about accepting responsibility in the face of hardship and adversity,” explains Wilmot.

Jak’s passion for creating virtual stories stems from animating Minecraft films and ultimately creating a feature length film entirely in Minecraft, Skies of Aurora.

Jak’s passion for creating VR stories stems from animating Minecraft films
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If I can give one person a positive experience, even if just 20 minutes, then I see it as a success
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After spending his formative years obsessing over video games and 360 experiences, he was inspired by Oculus Story Studio, Baobab & others to create his own rag-tag team of VR pioneers. The studio released their first VR film, Please State Your Name in 2016, which follows the tale of two androids in a dystopian world.

“Lá Camilla is Disrupt’s next step towards capturing the imagination of viewers and creating positive virtual experiences for all ages. Ultimately the film strives to start a conversation on accepting personal responsibility in the face of hardships. If I can give one person a positive experience, even if just 20 minutes, then I see it as a success.”

Made for under $1000, Lá Camilla is the first VR film to use HTC’s tracking pucks for all motion capture
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Made for under $1000, Lá Camilla is the first VR film to use HTC’s tracking pucks for all motion capture, a ground-breaking technique that’s proving popular for small independent studios as it becomes increasingly affordable.

“For the creatives in my generation, I think the next 3-5 years are crucial for learning the language of VR/AR before the industry truly takes off”

The film is compatible with Oculus/Vive/ & MR headsets on Steam

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasioon Twitter.

The post Making a VR Experience for Less Than $1000 appeared first on Tech Trends.

Film premiered at Tribeca brings the nuclear horrors of the past to life as warnings for the future.

It was the blast heard around the world: On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan, killing approximately 80,000 people and injuring another 35,000. Yet, society seems to have forgotten the true catastrophes of that day; Hiroshima has become a chapter in a textbook, a history lesson we pay attention to for the sake of a test, and then move on from.

Described as an “Interactive Virtual Reality Memorial,” The Day the World Changed premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City
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On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, Japan, killing approximately 80,000 people and injuring another 35,000
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Over 70 years later, this is something that filmmakers Gabo Arora, Saschka Unseld are hoping to change, by leveraging the unique immersive qualities of VR to force us to remember that day in its full horror, and ask all the difficult questions that come with it.

The Day the World Changed Trailer- Tribeca 2018 from Jennifer Tiexiera on Vimeo.

Described as an “Interactive Virtual Reality Memorial,” The Day the World Changed premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City with an unflinching experience centered on the bombing. Utilizing first-hand testimonies, data visualizations, 3-D scanning and photogrammetry, participants in the virtual experience will have exclusive access to images and artifacts they normally would not get to see in real life, including the ability to walk around the Atomic Dome, the last remaining building left standing after the devastation of Hiroshima.

Important experiences like this have the potential to open up new markets and audiences to the power of immersive storytelling around the world
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It is all part of the filmmaker’s larger mission to show how virtual reality film can be used as a vanguard that merges entertainment with education – all while examining crucial social issues and bringing people together. The project began as as an original commission by Nobel Media to showcase the work of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization ICAN, a campaign coalition that works to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.

“We are living in a time when our Commander-in-Chief and leaders of other nations are openly calling for more nuclear weapons, taunting each other over their capabilities. Our intention with this work is to give voice to those victims of nuclear war asking the world to face this shared history and to recognize the true horror of these weapons,” says Arora, who believes that people have been desensitized to the consequences of nuclear war over the years.

Tomorrow Never Knows is a start-up XR research, content and technology studio which worked in partnership with ICAN, Nobel Media and the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University to put together a powerful historical record reimagined through new technology. Its CEO and Executive Producer on the project, Nathan Brown, hopes the film will help in bridging the gap between art, education and location-based distribution. “This project goes far beyond mere technology or storytelling,” he says. “It is important experiences like this that have the potential to open up new markets and audiences to the power of immersive storytelling around the world.”

The Day the World Changed isn’t just a story about the past, it is also about our future—it reminds us that these weapons are still here, threatening us, but we can do something about it
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The story is told in three interactive chapters:

• The first explores what led the United States government to develop and drop the world’s first atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, a catastrophic event that ultimately killed more than 90,000 people.
• The second chapter examines the aftermath of the bombing as users walk through the ruins of Hiroshima’s only remaining building, and view authentic artifacts left over from that day.
• The third chapter advances to the present day as viewers delve into the madness that ensued as the world raced to develop ever-more nuclear weapons.

“We find ourselves at one of the most dangerous moments since the dawn of the Atomic Age. It’s at moments like this that we must collectively look back and understand that nuclear weapons are quite simply indiscriminate weapons of mass murder,” said ICAN executive director, Beatrice Fihn. “The Day the World Changed isn’t just a story about the past, it is also about our future—it reminds us that these weapons are still here, threatening us, but we can do something about it.”

“We want this to be an unwavering, uncomfortable experience for people. We want to turn on its head our obsessions and fetishizing of nuclear superiority as a symbol of pride in one’s country, but also to recognize the power of the virtual reality medium,” adds Unseld. “By placing  the general  public inside the ruins of a tragic event like Hiroshima, we hope to activate a groundswell of support for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and to help ICAN generate momentum in their mission towards elimination.”

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Virtual Reality With a Social Mission appeared first on Tech Trends.