Category: Carne y Arena

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VR Awards 2018: The Winners Speak

There are all kinds of awards out there – mainly because most everything has some organisation quantifying who are the best in what they do. Now we’re in the fourth quarter of the year it’s only natural that we end up seeing more awards ceremonies to reveal the high achievers of 2018.

Earlier this week VRFocus hit the red carpet for the VR Awards 2018, which once again celebrated the field of virtual reality (VR).

VRAwards 2018 logo“The VR Awards is at the centre of recognition and celebration of outstanding achievement in VR.”  Says the organisation, “Combined with year-round international initiatives, the VR Awards brings together a night of red carpet highlights, the celebration of excellence and unique access to the world’s most influential names in immersive technology.”

A media partner for the event, Nina Salomons and Kevin Joyce were both in attendance and even helped dish out the awards during the evening. You can find a list of the winners below, as well as some footage of the event and interviews with several of the victors.

VR Awards 2018 Winners

VR Headset of the Year:
HTC Vive Pro

VR Game of the Year:
Episode 2: Heart of the Emberstone (Cloudhead Games Ltd.)

VR Experience of the Year:
Manifest 99 (Flight School)

VR Film of the Year:
CARNE y ARENA (ILMxLAB)

VR Marketing of the Year:
Coco VR (Magnopus)

Rising VR Company of the Year:
Neurogaming Limited

Innovative VR Company of the Year:
Ultrahaptics

VR Education of the Year:
HoloLAB Champions (Schell Games)

VR Healthcare of the Year:
Virti

Out-of-home VR Entertainment of the Year:
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire (ILMxLAB and The VOID)

VR Social Impact Award:
Window to our World (VISYON & The Cornerstone Partnership)

VR Architecture and Real Estate of the Year:
Bostoen – Creating your dream house before it’s even built (Nanopixel)

VRFocus will bring you more news and videos very soon.

 

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Cannes Film Festival Gets First VR Entry

The Cannes Film Festival is now in its 70th year and is considered one of the most important events in the calendar for movie buffs and professionals in the film industry. Significantly, this year will also be the first time that a virtual reality (VR) film will be included in the festival line-up.

The VR entry is directed by Mexican director Alejandro G. Inarritu, who has previously been the recipient of Academy Awards for his films The Revenant and Birdman. His VR Cannes entry is titled Carne y Arena (Meat and Sand) which is an exploration of the experiences of immigrants and refugees. The official description is as follows:

“Based on true accounts, the superficial lines between subject and bystander are blurred and bound together, allowing individuals to walk in a vast space and thoroughly live a fragment of the refugees’ personal journeys. CARNE y ARENA employs the highest, never-before-used virtual technology to create a large, multi-narrative light space with human characters.”

Festival director Thierry Fremaux said it was: “A beautiful film, you are shivering when you come out of it.” and compared it to the innovations of the Lumiere Brothers, who are regarded by many as the fathers of cinema.

49 films are due to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival, which is set to take place from 17th-28th May in Cannes. Southern France. In a reflection of the changing world of film and television and the growth of technology, several of the films were funded by Amazon or Netflix, and television series such as the revival of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks will be previewed at the festival alongside movies.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on VR in film and television.