Dispatch

January 20, 2018

Oculus Sends 5 VR Experiences to Sundance 2018

The Sundance Film Festival just kicked off in Park City, Utah, and Oculus announced in a blogpost they’re debuting five experiences at the New Frontier section of Sundance—all of which they helped bring to life.

Sundance’s New Frontier hosts a curated selection of works realized in the mediums of VR, AR, MR and AI. You can check out a full list of every entry into their year’s Sundance New Frontier showcase here.

Oculus will be doing a deep dive on each experience they’ve brought to Sundance, the first of which details the making of will.i.am and The Black Eyed Peas’ Masters of the Sun.

Written and directed by Edward Robles of Here Be Dragons, Dispatch follows a small-town police dispatcher (Martin Starr, Silicon Valley) as he faces an all-night crime spree. The experience takes you inside the dispatcher’s perspective in this episodic, audio-based miniseries. The first three episodes launched on Rift and Gear VR in November, and the finale will launch on the Oculus Store January 25 following its world premiere at Sundance.

Masters of the Sun

Launching for Gear VR, Masters of the Sun is presented by will.i.am and The Black Eyed Peas. It takes place during the ’80s when ancient and modern forces of evil started destroying black communities. Vocal talent including Rakim, Queen Latifah, KRS-One, Jason Isaacs, Slick Rick, and comics industry legend Stan Lee tell the story of mobilization and reclaiming their city, fighting back against the evils of drugs, crime, and discrimination.

Check out Oculus’ Q & A with will.i.am here.

Space Explorers

The latest project from Felix & Paul Studios, Space Explorers lets you reach new heights through the power of VR. Created in partnership with NASA, the experience follows their astronauts as they prepare to launch into space. Space Explorers is coming to Oculus in 2018.

SPHERES

The first chapter of SPHERES, called “Songs Of Spacetime,” is debuting at Sundance. SPHERES is a three-part series that transports viewers into the deepest pockets of the Universe, bringing to life future worlds and exploring oneness with the cosmos. SPHERES is created by Eliza McNitt and will launch on Rift in 2018.

Wolves in the Walls

From the team behind the Emmy Award-winning project Henry comes Wolves in the Walls, a gorgeous, interactive adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s haunting work brought to life in VR. Wolves in the Walls is coming to Oculus in 2018.

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The post Oculus Sends 5 VR Experiences to Sundance 2018 appeared first on Road to VR.

November 22, 2017

‘Dispatch’ Expertly Weaves a Tale of Grizzly Murders in VR Through the Sound of 9-1-1 Calls

Dispatch (2017), a new episodic story from VR pros Here Be Dragons, launched on Oculus Rift and Gear VR yesterday. Following a small-town emergency dispatcher named Ted (voiced by Martin Starr), you experience the story through a sort of half-imagined, half-real version of the grizzly events he’s privy to.

One of the unique features in Dispatch is its minimalist art style, which leaves a lot of room for the viewer to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. After all, as a 9-1-1 dispatcher, Ted only has the sound from the phone to drawn upon, so every slam or creak of a door is potentially a clue to what’s happening on the other end of the line.

Writer and Director Edward Robles said in an Oculus blog post announcing the experience’s release that from the very beginning he was intent on creating something minimalist, “reducing the details of everyday life to the most evocative.” Highly reliant on positional audio, you’re essentially following along with Ted as he recreates the grizzly scenes of violence in his mind. Despite its visual sparseness, the effect Dispatch has on you is pretty visceral.

Martin Starr, also known for his role as Gilfoyle in Silicon Valley, delivers the action with his patently monotone voice, acting as a sobering backdrop to the violence at hand.

Dispatch is told across 4 episodes, offering the first episode for free, which lasts about 5 minutes. The full four episodes however costs an additional $3, adding about 10 more minutes of overall time to the entire story.

Here’s how Here Be Dragons describes Dispatch:

What begins as a domestic violence call quickly cascades into a host of attacks across town, and the local police are struggling to keep up. Every new call sheds light on Ted’s inner torments and pushes him closer toward danger. Police dispatchers are trained to see with sound. Every door slam, tire screech, and piercing scream paints a picture in their minds. The visual world of Dispatch unfolds inside Ted’s imagination as he wades through the soundscape, advising terrified callers and listening for clues. Ted yearns to be at the scene of the crime, to be given the chance to really help someone. He’s about to get what he wished for.

You can read the full interview with Robles here, where he describes a little more about the creative process, and working with Starr to fill in the role as Ted.

‘Dispatch’ on Gear VR

‘Dispatch’ on Rift

The post ‘Dispatch’ Expertly Weaves a Tale of Grizzly Murders in VR Through the Sound of 9-1-1 Calls appeared first on Road to VR.

September 3, 2017

Here Be Dragons Release Trailer for VR Miniseries Dispatch

A few days ago VRFocus reported on immersive content studio Here Be Dragons’ next virtual reality (VR) project, a miniseries called Dispatch. Making its debut at the recent Venice Film Festival, the studio’s now released the trailer shown at the event.

The four-part series puts viewers in the shoes of a police dispatcher, dealing with all manner of emergency calls from the general public. As the trailer showcases, Dispatch has a highly stylised design overlaid with voice calls. The series revolves around a protagonist called Ted, who finds that he is the only one able to help a victim, no longer sheltered by the distance of a voice down a phone line.

As yet Here Be Dragons hasn’t confirmed which VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) Dispatch will be released on. As previous five-part series The Possible was available through the Within app the studio may go down the same route, with the app supporting iOS and Android using Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and PlayStation VR

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Here Be Dragons, reporting back with its latest projects.