World-famous performers Cirque du Soleil have announced that it is bringing its unique style of acrobatic storytelling to mobile virtual reality (VR) with the launch of Through the Masks of LUZIA for the Samsung Gear VR.
Set in a fantasy vision of Mexico, Through the Masks of LUZIA is the first Cirque du Soleil performance to be captured using both hyper-stereoscopy and hypo-stereoscopy, which allows the viewer to view the performance from different perspectives, ranging from a birds-eye view, or from a worms-eye view near the ground while the typically flamboyant stunts and acrobatics are performed all around the viewer.
“Through our VR productions, we aim at offering our fans a state-of-the-art complementary experience to our live shows while reaching out to new audiences, proposing to them a first deep dive into our creations,” says Sébastien Ouimet, Senior Manager, Content Partnerships & Distribution, Cirque du Soleil. “The impressive versatility of VR gives us the opportunity to bring our audience into a completely immersive world, transposing our shows’ artistic direction in a new creative format.”
“Inspired by the simultaneously festive and surreal atmosphere of LUZIA, we created a VR-native journey through an unexpected world full of wonder and amazement, incorporating living embodiments of mythology in a landscape which is part dream, part fantasy, part reality,” said Félix Lajeunesse, co-founder and creative director at Felix & Paul Studios, who are proving the platform for the experience.
Cirque du Soleil have also announced the upcoming launch of its own VR app, powered by Felix & Paul Studios, which is planned for release in Autumn 2017 and will serve as a central hub to allow fans to access VR and 360-degree content from Cirque du Soleil, such as the other VR productions Inside the Box of Kurios, KA: The Battle Within and DREAMS OF ‘O’.
VRFocus will bring you further information on Cirque du Soleil’s VR projects as it becomes available.