When Jon Favreau’s name is mentioned (and if you are a real film buff), there is an instant connection to high quality titles such as Iron Man and Jungle Book, so it may be a bit of a pleasant surprise to learn that he has created a virtual reality (VR) title. Made with Wevr as an original production in partnership with Reality One, Gnomes & Goblins is coming to the HTC Vive this week – but just as a preview.
What Gnomes & Goblins is all about is exploration of an enchanted VR world where you can become friendly and close with a being who lives in the world and thus delve into the surreal world that contains so many compartments.
Favreau said about his inspiration to take on the new medium: “I had been been playing around with this basic world and the characters of Gnomes & Goblins but I wasn’t sure how I would apply them. Wherever I thought it might go, the medium just didn’t seem right. And then I went over to Wevr and tried out theBlu on the Vive.
“Presence was the most interesting phenomenon when I experienced it for the first time. Knowing that you are seeing something artificial and yet your brain is fooled into believing that it’s real. And that is unique to VR: something that feels not so much like a game and not so much cinematic, but where you have the opportunity to explore the same feelings you get while lucid dreaming, and it really lent itself to this world and its characters.”
The director himself then explained who this movie is particularly aimed at: “The appeal is to have somebody who is not a gamer and never had a VR experience, be able to enjoy this without feeling that they need to have a certain skill set, but we also don’t want it to be passive cinemative experience where people just sit and enjoy it like a ride. It should feel like you’re developing a relationship with these characters.”
The release date for the Gnomes & Goblins preview is 8th September, and it will be free for the HTC Vive.
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