Just before Christmas last year VRFocus reported on MWM Immersive (VR and AR division of Madison Wells Media) creating a spine-tingling version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol as a live theatrical virtual reality (VR) experience called Chained: A Victorian Nightmare in Los Angeles. Today, the studio has announced a partnership with real-time body animation specialist IKINEMA, alongside bringing the piece to New York City.
Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is the work of Justin Denton in collaboration with Aaron Sims Creative, and Here Be Dragons, using IKINEMA’s LiveAction technology to bring the story’s ghostly characters to life.
A solitary single-guest experience presented inside a fully detailed Victorian-era set, only one audience member can enter at a time. After donning a VR headset they’ll interact the entire time with live actors who are motion captured by IKINEMA then animated alongside other tactile objects, confronting their own past, present, and future through a harrowing journey.
“The ghosts of A Christmas Carol have become iconic characters, and they’re at the heart of our adaptation,” said Ethan Stearns, Executive Producer, MWM Immersive in a statement. ” IKINEMA LiveAction was instrumental in making each one feel like a living, breathing character who is standing right beside you. At MWM Immersive, we want to provide our creators the tools they need to tell their story in the best way possible, and that often means pushing the boundaries and capabilities of the technology at our fingertips. IKINEMA helped us accomplish that on Chained.”
“Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is testament to the close collaboration of creative and technical teams who harness our powerful LiveAction solution to bring life and realism for interactive virtual characters—qualities IKINEMA is in demand for,” Alexandre Pechev, CEO, IKINEMA adds. “We’re thrilled MWM Immersive have delivered what is next-generation VR storytelling using our technology.”
If you happen to be in New York over the next month then head down to the New York City Story Arcade Pop-Up, by organisers Future of Storytelling. Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is only available until 24th March, so book your tickets here. For further theatrical VR updates, keep reading VRFocus.
