Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
Making virtual reality feel real is the hardest job of all VR developers. For Awake: Episode One, StartVR used volumetric recording, rather than motion capture, to bring its characters to life like never before.
The post Bringing realism to VR is complex, but these developers found a solution in holograms appeared first on Digital Trends.
There seems to be a growing influx of cinematic virtual reality (VR) content – which is no bad thing – whether its Baobab Studios’ Crow: The Legend or Spheres for example. The latest to arrive is Start VR’s immersive movie AWAKE: Episode One, arriving today solely for HTC Vive.
Having toured the international film circuit, receiving official selection at SXSW, Cannes NEXT, Melbourne International Film Festival, New York Film Festival and London’s Raindance Film Festival, HTC Vive owners can now see what all the fuss is about.
AWAKE: Episode One blends photorealistic real-time sets and effects with volumetric video performance, enabling viewers to have full room-scale freedom. In this first episode you’ll learn that protagonist Harry, is obsessed with discovering the truth behind the recurring dream of a strange pattern that contains a cryptic message.
With a run time of around 20 minutes, AWAKE: Episode One includes over 15 minutes of holographic performances captured at Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studio.
“With AWAKE I have tried to present a new kind of story that raises the bar in immersive entertainment, creatively, technically and at every turn. It’s the kind of thought-provoking immersive experience I have always wanted to have, but have not yet seen, so I’m incredibly excited to finally share it with audiences,” said Martin Taylor, Chief Creative Officer at Start VR is Creator & Director of AWAKE in a statement.
“As a small and ambitious content studio, we aimed extremely high with AWAKE. In particular, we wanted to showcase Volumetric Video like never before, in a complex cinematic narrative that destroys the myth that it’s not ready as a production technique. We want to champion the actor’s craft and give audiences the opportunity to come face to face with their heroes in ways that match their favorite epic moments from the big screen,” Taylor adds.
AWAKE: Episode One is available today for HTC Vive and HTC Vive Pro via Steam and Viveport. Windows Mixed Reality headsets will get support in early 2019, with Oculus Rift due shortly after. When Start VR release new information about the next episode, VRFocus will let you know.
Having launched its $5 million USD Unreal Dev Grant programme back in 2015, Epic Games has helped fund numerous videogame projects, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences. The latest round has now been revealed, distributing $800,000 in funding.
There have been quite a number of VR and AR recipients this time around, with the lucky ones being:
“The Unreal Dev Grants program has a simple goal: to help talented developers succeed by letting them focus more on their project and less on their bills,” said Chance Ivey, Partnership Manager at Epic Games in a statement. “We’re continually amazed by the range of applications built with UE4 and the potential of so many of these projects; this round includes standouts such as Sojourn by Tierceron, Crab Rave by Noisestorm, and VR Cataract Simulator by Surgical Mind. Congrats to all of these folks for their vision and persistence!”
VRFocus will continue its coverage of the latest Unreal Dev Grant winners, reporting back with any VR related projects.
Now that Halloween is over its time to start ramping up the festivities for 2018’s next big celebration, good old Christmas. Ahead of the big day full of presents and too much food media company REWIND (The Magic Flute, Ghost in the Shell VR) will be hosting the last VRLO event of the year in London, UK.
The one-day event will be an evening of talks, demos and networking opportunities all wrapped up with some festive celebrations.
Sponsored by HP, Jigsaw24 and Bluegfx, HP and Jigsaw24 are teaming up to bring the HP Z VR Backpack PC to VRLO, with a demo version of REWIND’s Silicon Valley: Inside the Hacker Hostel VR.
Also at VRLO will be Coatsink Software, with the studio set to demo relaxing title A Night’s Sky and comedy mini-game collection about robots They Suspect Nothing. Vive Studios will be on hand to showcase 7 Miracles, an immersive adaptation of the seven miracles of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John. It will be the experience’s second showing in London after its World Premiere at Raindance Film Festival last month. Finally, Start VR will demo AWAKE, a character-driven interactive cinematic VR series that blurs the line between dream and reality.
And as a festive treat REWIND will be holding The Santa’s Helper Challenge, you’ll have to attend to find out more.
VRLO will be taking place on Wednesday, 5th December 2018, starting at 7pm and running through to 11pm. It’ll be held at The Microsoft Reactor London, with tickets being free, and entry will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis. For further details and to grab a ticket head to the VRLO Eventbrite page. VRFocus will continue its coverage of REWIND and VRLO, reporting back with further updates.
Start VR have released a new teaser trailer showing off their upcoming virtual reality (VR) film Awake in action.
Awake: Episode One, is a thrilling interactive cinematic VR experience from the creative minds at Start VR. A technical and creative marvel, the film is using the latest in Volumetric Holographic capture techniques to bring real-life human performances into VR. The character-drive cinematic series will blur the lines between dream and reality, as the viewer is drawn into the perplexities surrounding space, time and the human psyche in its most vulnerable state.
The film is staring Jake McDorman (American Sniper, Limitless, Die Hard 4.0) as the protagonist Harry, a sharp and misjudged man with a mysterious past and a unique insight into the unseen worlds that exist around him. Analeigh Tipton (Crazy, Stupid, Love and Warm Bodies) will play the part of Rose, the love of Harry’s life at the centre of his favorite memories and Nicholas Hope (Bad Boy Buddy and VR Noir) is also involved in the project though in an undefined role.
Awake: Episode One will take viewers on a journey to see the life of protagonist Harry, now a prisoner in his own house, obsessed with discovering the truth behind a recurring dream that focuses on his long-lost wife Rose. With a cryptic message that keeps appearing as well, Harry becomes obsessed with unearthing the mysteries that haunt him and correcting a mistake that cost him everything. As the viewer, your arrival signals a life-changing event that is capable of saving Harry from the darkness that surrounds him and unlocking the true potential of humanity’s future.
As previously reported, the VR film is being directed by Start VR’s Chief Content Officer Martin Taylor, who has been working on the project for a few years now. It is currently in development for the HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro and Windows Mixed Reality (MR) but attendees at the recent South by South West (SXSW) 2018 had the opportunity to view the film in a special premiere.
Awake: Episode One will be releasing sometime in Q2 2018 and you can view the newly release teaser trailer below.
For more on Awake in the future, keep reading VRFocus.
Australia-based virtual reality (VR) studio Start VR has already produced several live-action cinematic VR productions, most of which have been released on the Samsung Gear VR. The studio have now announced its next project, an interactive VR cinema experience called Awake.
The film is being directed by Start VR’s Chief Content Officer Martin Taylor, who has been developing the concept behind the experience for several years and is now bringing the idea to life. Supporting the project are Screen Australia and HTC Vive, and Animal Logic will be providing VFX and animation to the film, with Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture also acting as a creative collaborator.
Awake is described as a thought-provoking and character-driven story that straddles the line between dream and reality as it follows the life of protagonist, Harry Whitbread. An exploration of Harry’s past forms the core of the story, as Harry once made a choice that changed his life and cost him everything he loved and cared about. Viewers will delve into the depths of the past and present of this broken man, reliving key memories and trying to solve the mysteries behind his choices and try and guide Harry towards atonement by interacting with various objects and hunting down hidden clues.
Actor Jake McDorman, known for his roles in Lady Bird, Limitless and American Sniper, is playing the role of Harry Whitbread, with Analeigh Tipton of Crazy Stupid Love, Lucy and Warm Bodies is playing Harry’s wife Rose.
Start VR hope that Awake will represent a step forward in immersive and interactive cinematic experiences, and the studio asserts its commitment to prioritising audience participation and creative storytelling.
Awake is expected to launch in early 2018, though a firm release date has yet to be confirmed. Awake will be available on HTC Vive and Microsoft Mixed Reality headsets. Compatibility with other headsets is expected to be confirmed at a later date.
Further information can be found on the Start VR website.
VRFocus will bring you further information on Start VR as it becomes available.
Two months ago we got a look inside one of the three studios in the world to feature Microsoft’s volumetric capture setup. The tech itself is impressive, but we’re still searching for promising VR experiences that actually use it. Awake is one such experience.
Announced today, Awake is the latest VR series from Start VR, a production studio specializing in VR content that we first reported on last year when Red Dead Redemption designer Christian Cantamessa came aboard. The project stars Jake McDorman and Analeigh Tipton and is directed by Start VR Chief Content Officer, Martin Taylor.
The series tells the story of Harry Whitbread, a disabled man reflecting on a life-changing choice he once made that led him to where he is now. Episodes drift in and out of Whitbread’s thoughts and dreams as viewers visit his past, present and future. Start VR describes it as a love story as its heart, focusing on concepts of space, time and existence.
Microsoft’s volumetric capture provides near-photorealistic scans of the actors’ performance, recording a full range of emotions and movements. You can also see this tech at work in the recent Blade Runner: Memory Labs experience that was released for free on the Oculus Rift.
Awake is funded in part by HTC Vive and the first episode will release on that headset as well as others in early 2018.
Tagged with: awake
Red Dead Redemption is often regarded as one of the best video games from the past decade. The immensely detailed world full of bustling NPCs, addicting gameplay across the Wild West, and a cast of memorable characters all add up to one of the most lively and appreciated game worlds.
It’s both open-ended and focused with enough twists to fascinate even the most jaded gamer. It was — and still is — a breath of fresh air. Its sequel was even just recently announced through a new teaser trailer.
Christian Cantamessa, who has worked in the game industry for over 20 years, was the Lead Designer and Writer on Red Dead Redemption, and also has credits on other renowned games such as Shadow of Mordor and Rise of the Tomb Raider. On top of that, he’s worked on films and comics as well, as a writer, designer, director, and more. Needless to say, the man is a serial storyteller.
For two upcoming projects, Cantamessa joined forces with Start VR, the company behind the unique VR Noir narrative experience. We got the chance to chat with Cantamessa over the phone recently to discuss not only his past and what he wants to bring to the industry, but his future as well.
“Storytelling is the name of the game — no pun intended,” jokes Cantamessa. “The medium is the message. There are stories that just feel like they want to be games or movies and now I’m excited to tell new stories with this new VR format. We have a great tool, but we don’t quite know what to do with it yet. I’m very excited to create new experiences as a sort of middle ground between AAA video games and 360-degree panoramic film making.”
We’ve seen a lot of experimentation in the realm of VR storytelling, from 360-degree videos, to interactive stories, to games, and everything else. But the real special sauce is when storytellers can tap into what truly makes VR so unique and expound upon that, rather than adapting existing mediums to a new format.
With his pedigree, Cantamessa also brings a natural eye for quality storytelling. However, all of that experience thus far has been with flat, linear formats. A TV screen or film screen channels images from a game console or movie disc, providing everyone with a single point of focus that can be adjusted and changed as necessary. Switch scenes, play a cutscene, have everyone hear the same dialogue or see the same thing. VR doesn’t have those luxuries.
Designers have to adapt to the format and create more dynamic ways of telling stories that also double as incentives for looking and watching different areas of a world, rather than looking at the same rectangle point of view.
“I have learned that with all my 20+ years of experience in games, movies, and comics, I am still not anywhere near close to having the answer to what VR will be like in the next 3-4 years,” says Cantamessa. “The conversation is just starting. For me, its like looking at all the different experiences people have made and learning from those. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants to look ahead to see what’s coming in the future.”
For creatives, the process is often not trying to come up with a ‘good enough’ idea, but whittling down the list of ideas to the most viable and interesting. Getting to the point, professionally, where your mental funnel works well is half the struggle.
“I’ve been excited by a lot of what the HTC Vive, Steam, and Valve are doing in terms of just bringing us into the world using consumer technology really creatively,” explains Cantamessa. “They’ve certainly been brave in opening up the conversation. I’ve also enjoyed the more traditional uses of panoramic video where the pioneers are trying to figure out how to cut and change scenes. How do we abandon the film making notion of a ‘frame’ and move to a notion of an open world that’s beyond the frame?”
Storytelling in VR is incredibly complex. In many ways, designers can take more cues from mediums such as theater and performance art than they can traditional film — but it would always be best to draw inspiration from as many sources as possible.
Cantamessa tells me that he and Start VR are actively working on two VR projects: Awake and Magic. Awake is a multi-episode series, similar in length and style to the Netflix Original shows, or HBO’s original programming, which means very high-quality production values, heavier tones, and compelling narratives.
“I can’t divulge much about these without spoiling things, but I can tell you a bit,” says Cantamessa. “Awake is grounded sci-fi, or speculative fiction. It’s a bit inspired by lucid dreaming, so you can extrapolate from that a little. We will do a pilot episode coming out in first half of 2017, with seven more episodes following.
“Then there is Magic, this will be a trilogy. “It’s very early in development, but I can tell you that as the title suggests, it will be based in the ‘magic realism’ genre. So not fantastical wizards and witches, but things like illusionists and stage magicians.”
As VR continues to evolve and grow, so too will the power, maturity, and efficacy of its narratives.
“The medium is moving in its first steps right now,” admits Cantamssa. “I’ve bee involved in games since the mid-90s, ever since I was a teenager really, and I can tell you I feel the same excitement right now that I did back then. Nobody knows anything. The door is wide open. It will take us somewhere new so we don’t retread the same waters.”
Tagged with: awake, cantamessa, magic, red dead, start vr, storytelling
