Digital Trends Live: Switch Lite review, KFC goes Beyond Meat, and more
On this episode of Digital Trends Live, we discuss the biggest trending stories in tech, including reviews of the Nintendo Switch Lite, and more.
Review: Doctor Who: The Runaway Is A Must-See For Fans Of The TV Show
The Doctor from long-running television show Doctor Who regenerates from time to time.
The heart-wrenching process washes away into memory a charming and beautiful personality. In its place someone new stands bright and full of possibility, challenging you to embrace the unknown and all its charms while remembering the old with an aching fondness.
Doctor Who: The Runaway combines world-class motion capture, animation, and voice acting to successfully regenerate Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor from live-action TV to animated VR character.
This adventure packs everything you would expect from an episodic adventure with The Doctor into its 12-minute trip. There’s the Sonic Screwdriver, the TARDIS is in danger, and there’s a cute, if temperamental, alien creature threatening the entire galaxy.
Maria McClurg provides the body motion capture performance for The Doctor and references for facial animation that are so key to this incarnation. Voiced by Whittaker, the virtual version of this beloved character springs to life in front of your eyes. There isn’t a lot of interactivity in the version I experienced on Oculus Rift S, but when The Doctor needs help it is easy to give, and that’s all that matters when you’re looking back at the Police Call Box sign far behind you.
Innerspace VR developed Doctor Who: The Runaway for Passion Pictures and the BBC VR Hub in collaboration with animation from Kombo, motion capture from Mocaplab and Guillaume Moutardier for sound design. The app is available as a free download on the Oculus Home store for Rift, not to be confused with the upcoming Doctor Who: The Edge of Time VR experience.
Final Say: Essential
The Doctor you’ll meet in The Runaway is lively and captivating, exactly as you would expect, so the moment this animated story concludes, any fan of the TV show will be left aching for more adventures in VR with The Doctor that are put together with this level of polish.
The post Review: Doctor Who: The Runaway Is A Must-See For Fans Of The TV Show appeared first on UploadVR.
Explore Mother Nature’s Micro Kingdoms With Magic Leap and BBC Earth Later This Year
In 2018 BBC Studios and videogame developer PRELOADED teamed up with Google for a virtual reality (VR) experience called BBC Earth: Life in VR for Google Daydream. For 2019, the pair have now collaborated with Magic Leap on a mixed reality (MR) project called BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses.
For this experience, BBC Studios Natural History Unit and PRELOADED will give users the opportunity to explore microhabitats from the natural world and interact with them. Come face to face with ants that can carry many times their own body weight, or for the brave how about everyone’s favourite eight-legged, eight eyed friend, the spider.
As this is on Magic Leap that means all sorts of creepy crawlies running around your living, using the devices spatial qualities to reveal the invisible senses that guide their behaviour and help them survive. BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses has been made possible thanks to funding by the Magic Leap Independent Creator Program.
“We’re pleased to welcome PRELOADED & BBC Studios to the Magic Leap Independent Creator Program, and are looking forward to working with their team to facilitate their launch into our diverse ecosystem of experiences,” said Rio Caraeff, Chief Content Officer, Magic Leap, in a statement. “Together, we’re innovating the next generation of computing and entertainment, and valued Creators such as PRELOADED & BBC Studios are crucial to defining that future.”
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Preloaded to bring our joint interactive and creative skills to such an exciting new platform and technology. Our natural history team has always used new technologies to tell stories and BBC Earth has brought these innovations to new and established audiences to engage them with the natural world. Mixed Reality and the Magic Leap spatial computing platform presents us with exciting new possibilities to achieve these goals,” Head of Digital Entertainment & Games for BBC Studios, Bradley Crooks commented.
BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses for Magic Leap will arrive later this year, scheduled for Fall 2019. While BBC Earth: Life in VR for Google Daydream was fairly easy to view thanks to the budget-friendly device, Magic Leap One is an altogether different experience. Magic Leap has made the headset easier to purchase but the basic version will still set you back $2,295 USD. For further updates on the project, keep reading VRFocus.
BBC Earth Is Bringing A New AR Experience To Magic Leap
BBC’s next immersive experience won’t be appearing on the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive; it’s coming to Magic Leap One.
The organization today announced BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses for the AR headset. Developed by Preloaded and BBC Studios, the experience will use the AR headset to digitally project micro habitats from the natural world into your living room.
Imagine, for example, placing an ant colony on your coffee table. According to a press release, the experience will reveal “the invisible senses” that make these habitats function. We don’t have any footage to show just yet, but it sounds like it could be a pretty intriguing use of AR tech. Imagine a David Attenborough-style documentary where you could lean in and inspect creatures and environments in close detail without the risk of upsetting them.
Preloaded also worked with the BBC on the excellent Life in VR app for Google Daydream. The team also worked on one of Within’s AR experiences, A Brief History Of Amazing Stunts. This latest experience is being developed under Magic Leaps’ Independent Creator Program. It’s designed to provide funding and mentorship to those looking to get into AR development. Another experience developed under the initiative, PuzzlAR, released last week.
Micro Kingdoms will be hitting Magic Leap later this year. For now, Magic Leap’s headset remains as a Creator Edition, mainly intended for developers. There’s still no word on when a more consumer-focused headset might be released. With the help of the Independent Creator Program, though, Magic Leap hopes to establish a thriving ecosystem for when it does.
The post BBC Earth Is Bringing A New AR Experience To Magic Leap appeared first on UploadVR.
Take a Trip in the Tardis as Doctor Who: The Runaway Appears on VR Headsets
Doctor Who fans need to go and grab a virtual reality (VR) headset today as the new interactive experience Doctor Who: The Runaway has just arrived on the BBC VR app.
Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival last month, Doctor Who: The Runaway is a 13-minute animation with interactive features starring the 13th Doctor, Jodie Whittaker. Viewers find themselves inside the famous Tardis, suddenly roped in as the Doctor’s unlikely assistant as she once again tries to save to galaxy from destruction.
The menace this time, a seemingly innocuous ball of energy called Volta, a teenager with a tantrum who has run away from home. Unfortunately, anywhere other than his home planet Volta can become rather unstable, and when agitated can turn into a rather destructive black hole, so the Doctor is trying to get him home as fast as possible.
Naturally, it’s never plain sailing in the world of the Doctor and as the assistant, you need to help out in a variety of ways, from piloting the Tardis to keeping Volta calm. “Fans will find themselves at the centre of this wonderfully animated story, helped by the natural charm and humour of Jodie Whittaker, in an adventure that really captures the magic of Doctor Who. Viewers truly are in for a treat – for those who ever dreamed of helping to pilot the TARDIS, this is your opportunity!” says Jo Pearce, creative director for the BBC’s digital drama team in a statement.
“This is the most ambitious project yet from our team in the BBC VR Hub, and the result is a magical adventure that Doctor Who fans everywhere will simply love,” adds Zillah Watson, head of BBC VR Hub. “It also shows the enormous potential that virtual reality has for creating new kinds of experiences that appeal to mainstream audiences.”
There will be two versions of Doctor Who: The Runaway depending on the headset, with the full 13-minute interactive experience available for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on their respective stores, with an 11-minute 360-degree video version available to download from the BBC VR App for Oculus Go and GearVR. Produced by the BBC’s digital drama team, BBC VR Hub and Passion Animation Studios, for further updates from the BBC VR team, keep reading VRFocus.
The BBC is Touring UK Libraries With its VR Experiences
In the age of the internet and information at our fingertips, the traditional library may seem a little antiquated but they still have a purpose in our fast-paced modern society. And to help encourage more people to head to their local library this Spring is the BBC, adding a 21st-century flavour to all the books by touring the UK with its latest virtual reality (VR) experiences.
The BBC VR Hub team will be taking a mixture of VR content to over 40 libraries around the country, heading to a number of locations in Lancashire this week, including Tarleton, Skelmersdale, Eccleston and Adlington, before moving on to Nuneaton, Leeds, Dundee and a whole host of others across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“Virtual reality is an extraordinary way to experience a story, by immersing yourself in it completely you get a huge connection to it,” says Zillah Watson, head of BBC VR Hub. “The trouble is that headsets are expensive, and only a very small number of people have them at home. That’s why we wanted to bring some of our favourite experiences out on the road, and by putting them into local libraries across the UK we’re hoping to give everyone the chance to try out virtual reality.”
There will be three titles on the tour, with 1943 Berlin Blitz and Congo VR available at every location with a select number also showcasing People Just Do Nothing VR. 1943 Berlin Blitz launched for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in October 2018, putting viewers in the shoes of Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, a BBC war correspondent and sound recordist, Reg Pidsley, as they documented their flight on a genuine bombing run during World War 2.
Congo VR was another 2018 release, this time on the BBC VR app for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go. It is a three-part news documentary series following BBC Africa correspondent Alastair Leithead on assignment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. People Just Do Nothing VR is much more light-hearted, a 360-degree version of the comedy series.
The BBC VR tour begins today, to see which libraries will be on the tour head to the official website for further info. As the BBC continues to release new VR content like the new Doctor Who: Runaway animation short, VRFocus will keep you updated.
Doctor Who: The Runaway – One for the Fans
The BBC’s incredibly long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who has gained millions of fans around the world over the years, spawning plenty of additional content and merchandise. The most recent is Doctor Who: The Runaway which made its debut this week during the Tribeca Film Festival. Created by award-winning Passion Animation Studios in conjunction with BBC VR Hub, the interactive experience might be short but fans of the programme will be delighted in its presentation.
First and foremost there are going to be spoilers ahead, so if you want to be completely surprised when the public launch takes place then stop reading, you have been warned. For everyone else – mostly the non-die-hard Doctor Who fans – then read on.
Featuring 13th Doctor Jodie Whittaker, Doctor Who: The Runaway takes place entirely inside the famous Tardis. To ensure maximum comfort for the audience there’s no actual movement involved, as this is a short film with interactive elements. With its own original story, you find yourself in the Tardis just after it has collided with an object, Volta to be precise. Volta is a being of pure energy who gets a little unstable away from its planet, unstable in the fact that Volta can explode turning into an all-consuming black hole that can destroy the galaxy (this is Doctor Who after all).
So the Doc needs to return Volta to its home planet and you not only get to come along for the ride, you can help along the way.
It’s easy to see why Passion Animation was chosen to produce Doctor Who: The Runaway as the art style and detail do look clean and suitably impressive – the screenshots don’t quite do it justice. During most of the 13 minutes, all the action takes place around the central column of the Tardis so you only need to face one direction. However, it is still worth watching the short on a twisting chair for certain moments and to get a good idea of the scale of the ship’s insides.
Whittaker’s voice acting is spot on, perfectly conveying her Doctor Who character in digital form. The only real issue that VRFocus had was with the lip syncing, with it not quite matching up in areas – much more noticeable when the Doc gets quite close. Aside from that, the actual story whips along at a decent rate, so much so that those 13 minutes soon flyby – which always makes these type of VR experiences feel a little too short.
As mentioned, Doctor Who: The Runaway is at points interactive, so there’s no point sitting back and relaxing too much. For instance, in one section of the story as Volta is on its way home a squad of galactic busybodies descends on the Tardis looking to destroy the passenger. So the central column turns into a holographic projector allowing you to see the Tardis from the outside. You’re then tasked with piloting the ship through debris to lose these annoying peacekeepers, being careful not to hit anything as you are inside!
Another interactive moment is when Volta starts to get agitated – it maybe living energy but it’s still a teenager – so you’re given a selection of items to calm it down using the Sonic Screwdriver. These alter Volta’s size and colour, with the air horn a particular favourite – it really annoys Volta.
Even if you’re not a massive Doctor Who fan, The Runaway is still a delightful adventure, and another step on the road to bigger VR films that allow the audience to get involved. If you are a massive fan then the title is well worth a watch when it does become available – VRFocus viewed it on Oculus Rift – as well as several repeat viewings.
Check out the First Trailer for Doctor Who: The Runaway
The BBC announced in February that work was underway on a new virtual reality (VR) project involving one of the broadcaster’s most popular series, Doctor Who. Today, the first trailer has now arrived for Doctor Who: The Runaway.
The incredibly popular long-running series – it began in 1963! – is getting an animated, interactive story from the Doctor Who team, allowing fans to step inside the TARDIS with the Doctor.
And not only do you get to see the first video footage, the BBC has released the first story synopsis for the upcoming animated short: “You’ve been in a collision. You wake inside the TARDIS. The Doctor introduces you to the person, or thing, you collided with. He’s a strange and magnificent ball of living energy called Volta. Part surly teenager, part bomb, Volta is very unstable. In fact, he’s primed to explode. Big time. Unless he can be returned to his home planet, sharpish. The problem is, a squad of galactic busybodies has other plans for Volta. Bad ones. Drawn into a frantic chase, you become the Doctor’s unlikely assistant as she races against time to get Volta home to his parents. Armed with a sonic screwdriver, it is down to you to help the Doctor as she faces the forces of evil, and teenage angst, in this animated 13-minute VR adventure from the team behind Doctor Who Series 11.”
Developed by the BBC’s digital drama team, BBC VR Hub and Passion Animation Studios, Doctor Who: The Runaway features 13th Doctor Jodie Whittaker. While the BBC has stated the experience will be interactive it hasn’t specified how it’ll work or to what level.
Doctor Who: The Runaway has been written by Victoria Asare-Archer and directed by Mathias Chelebourg (Alice, the Virtual Reality Play and The Real Thing VR) and features new original music from series composer Segun Akinola. The film will premiere during the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The festival runs between 24th April – 5th May, with Tribeca Immersive taking place from 26th April to 4th May 2019. It’ll also come to UK audiences in the near future. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
Doctor Who: The Runaway Is An Animated VR Adventure Coming Soon
Doctor Who fans will soon get to join an animated Doctor in a virtual reality TARDIS.
The new project confirmed by the BBC today is a 12 minute adventure including a performance by the latest Doctor Jodie Whittaker “in animated form.” Doctor Who: The Runaway “will be available on selected VR headsets in the coming months.”
Plot details are sparse for The Runaway. The official description for the project says you get a chance to “be the Doctor’s champion” as you face a “deadly threat.” So, a standard Doctor Who adventure.
Here’s our first look at the animated version:
Doctor Who: The Runaway is an animated VR adventure coming to VR headsets.
Doctor Who, for those unfamiliar, is one of England’s most famous and long-lasting television programs. For more than 50 years, “The Doctor” has visited earthlings on TV and taken them on adventures in the TARDIS. Whittaker recently became the 13th incarnation of the time-traveling character. Her ship — disguised as a blue police call box — is a perfect fit for VR given its larger-on-the-inside physics. Once inside, going through that doorway once more can take you anywhere and anytime. In many ways, the TARDIS is the perfect vehicle for a VR experience. So that makes the Doctor — a kind of intergalactic tour guide and friend — the perfect character to join you on such a journey.
The project is “produced by the BBC’s digital drama team, BBC VR Hub and Passion Animation Studios.” Doctor Who: The Runaway is written by Victoria Asare-Archer and directed by Mathias Chelebourg with music from composer Segun Akinola.
We’ll bring you updates on the project as soon as we get them.
Tagged with: BBC, Doctor Who, Doctor Who: The Runaway, England
The post Doctor Who: The Runaway Is An Animated VR Adventure Coming Soon appeared first on UploadVR.
Step Back Into the Tardis Soon with Doctor Who: The Runaway
The BBC’s sci-fi series Doctor Who has been running for years, seeing numerous doctors come and go, garnering a worldwide fan base. In 2017 the broadcaster melded the TV show with virtual reality (VR) for an experience called Time Vortex 360. Today, fans will be pleased to hear the BBC has another immersive piece of content planned for later this year, Doctor Who: The Runaway.
The new VR experience is an animated short, with Jodie Whittaker reprising her role as The Doctor. Expected to run for around 12 minutes the film will feature music from the series composer Segun Akinola.
Developed by the BBC’s digital drama team, BBC VR Hub and Passion Animation Studios, Doctor Who: The Runaway will be an interactive experience where fans will get the chance to be the Doctor’s champion and help her on this exciting adventure, as they find themselves at the centre of the action facing a deadly threat.
Jo Pearce, creative director for the BBC’s digital drama team, said in a statement: “Fans will experience the TARDIS like never before in this thrilling new interactive story. As ever, the Doctor is full of warmth, wit and charm – helped by a wonderful performance from Jodie – which puts fans at the heart of the story as they immerse themselves in this beautifully animated world.”
“Our team at the BBC VR Hub has been creating new experiences with the goal of helping to usher virtual reality into the mainstream, and Doctor Who is exactly the sort of series that can help more people to try this new technology. The show has been pushing boundaries for over 55 years, and VR enables Doctor Who to explore a whole new dimension of storytelling,” Zillah Watson, head of BBC VR Hub adds.
Doctor Who: The Runaway has been written by Victoria Asare-Archer and directed by Mathias Chelebourg, whose previous VR films include Alice, the Virtual Reality Play and The Real Thing VR. It will be available on selected VR headsets in the coming months. As VRFocus receives further updates on Doctor Who: The Runaway, we’ll make sure to keep you updated.