As part of our month-long Future of Virtual Reality series, we want to highlight the most interesting, innovative work in VR today; and we want you to try it for yourself.
Chris Milk’s content company VRSE has released some of the most impactful live-action virtual reality content out today.The best known piece, Clouds Over Sidra, succeeded in creating a deeply moving experience for a global audience when it was released at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year. (You can view all of these experiences using a cardboard through the VRSE app.)
“Clouds Over Sidra” follows a twelve year old in the Za’atari camp in Jordan – home to 84,000 Syrian refugees. It follows her to school, to her makeshift tent and even to the football pitch. “At the UN, we consistently strive to bring citizens’ perspectives into the decision making process anyway possible” said Gabo Arora, Senior advisor at the UN. “By leveraging breakthrough technologies, such as virtual reality, we can create solidarity with those who are normally excluded and overlooked, amplifying their voices and explaining their situations.” -VRSE
“VICE News VR: Millions March” takes viewers into the December 13 rally that saw 60,000 protesters descend on the streets of New York to demand greater police accountability. In the video, VICE News correspondent Alice Speri follows marchers as they fill Washington Square Park with signs and banners, block traffic on Broadway, and lie down in the middle of the street in a “die-in” demonstration.” -VRSE
“The story starts off with a beautiful sunrise scene, but that’s quickly followed by a train steaming toward you at full speed, just as you’re calmly and effortlessly walking on water. Shortly thereafter, the train, which appears to be from the 1800s, crashes on your face and causes a vivid explosion that bursts into thousands of dark-hued birds — all flying fiercely across your field of vision. It’s a chilling, somewhat frightening way to enter into Evolution of Verse, but those few seconds alone set the tone for the rest of the film.” – Edgar Alvarez for Engadget
“The experience, Walking New York, was co-directed by Chris Milk, JR and Zach Richter and takes viewers through the making of the cover, a photograph of the 150-foot-tall portrait of a recent immigrant to NYC that was wheat pasted across the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza.” – VRSE
We’d love to hear from you: Tweet to us @singularityhub or to me @svm118 with questions, suggestions, comments and ideas on the series. To get updates on Future of Virtual Reality posts, sign up here.
Image Credit: VRSE, Shutterstock
