m ss ng p eces – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

August 7, 2017

Tribeca Studios Simulates What It’s Like To Swim In New York’s Rivers

Considered by most people to be famously polluted and unpleasant, the rivers of New York City are nonetheless the only waterways available to many citizens of a city dominated by high-rise apartment blocks. A project by Heineken and documented by Tribeca Studios is offering New Yorkers the chance to swim safely in the city’s rivers.

Floating and Idea: The +POOL Story tells of a project to create a water-filtering, floating swimming pool that allows citizens of New York to actually swim in the rivers of New York. The documentary offers a look at the history of the rivers, including the historical floating bathhouses of the 1900s. The aim is to attract attention and funding for the project to create a floating, olympic-sized swimming pool that can filter out contaminants to create water suitable for swimming in a pool accessible to anyone. The film and the +POOL are part of an initiative by Heineken called The Cities Project, which aims to improve communities in cities all over the world.

Alongside the documentary is an interactive 360-degree virtual reality (VR) film that lets VR users find out what the experience of swimming in the +POOL when it is completed. The 360-degree film was produced by renowned VR content creators Tribeca Studios and lets users find out what it would be like to swim in a pool with views of the iconic New York City skyline.

Plus Pool Project

“The short documentary and VR film bring + POOL’s remarkable story to life in new ways and raise awareness of how Heineken is helping + POOL reclaim the waters of New York City,” said Paula Weinstein, Executive Vice President of Tribeca Enterprises.

“The Cities Project by Heineken is all about raising awareness and providing support for innovative ideas for making great cities even greater,” said Raul Esquer, Brand Manager, Heineken USA. “This film not only shares the + POOL story in a new way in front of new audiences — it also showcases the many milestones that have already been reached, and what supporters can do to help get the project over the finish line.”

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on new 360-degree and VR projects as it becomes available.

August 5, 2017

Relax and Chill out with Living Insight, a Meditation Series by M ss ng P eces

After a stressful day you want to relax and put your feet up, and virtual reality (VR) studio’s are here to help. There have been a few meditation focused apps arrive for VR headsets, such as Cubicle Ninja’s Guided Meditation, MindMyths Meditation and The Artery’s Spirit of Meditation. Now creative agency M ss ng P eces has produced a series of 360-degree videos to help you unwind.

Created by Ari Kuschnir, Ivan Cash, and Jeremy Lubman, the VR project, Living Insight, is a meditation playlist featuring internationally acclaimed Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield from Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

The series features ten videos (all available below), with Kornfield discussing and covering topics such as Buddha, death, technology and meditation itself. All the videos are available through YouTube so they’re compatible with Google Cardboard and Daydream.

For the latest VR news from around the world, keep reading VRFocus.

December 12, 2016

Samsung, REWIND and m ss ng p eces Launch Nonprofit Initiative VR Together

With the launch of head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Samsung Gear VR, virtual reality (VR) has begun finding its feet amongst consumers all over the world. VR – as well as augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) – has seen significant growth, which can be put down to a number of factors, but to continue companies are now looking at cooperative initiatives for sustaining growth. This has come in several forms, from Khronos’ VR API standards initiative featuring AMD, Epic Games, Oculus, and Valve to VR Together, a nonprofit venture that’ll provide support to organisations and individuals seeking to create immersive projects.

Formed by Samsung, REWIND, m ss ng p eces and Nonny de la Peña, VR Together aims to provide a platform to encourage people to utilise VR for positive social impact. People will be able to connect and engage with each other, enabling organisations and individuals looking for production studios, research partners, ideas or advice to post their work and those with the expertise needed can offer help.

VR Together’s Board of Advisors includes Nonny de la Peña, CEO of Emblematic Group; Mária Rakušanová, Product Marketing Lead for Mobile, VR & Emerging Technologies at Samsung; Catherine Day, Head of AR/VR at m ss ng p eces and Sol Rogers, CEO/Founder at REWIND.

“Supporting VR Together can be as simple as dedicating a few hours a week, a month, or year to developing VR & AR projects alongside existing commercial work,” said Sol Rogers in a statement. “Think big, start small: reach out to others or brainstorm ideas which you feel could have the potential to positively improve lives or raise awareness of a cause. It’s the season of goodwill so we hope people will find the time to sign up and get involved.”

Catherine Day who earlier this month was announced as m ss ng p eces new head of VR/AR/360 commented: “We are really just scratching the surface when it comes to harnessing the potential of VR despite the speed at which the industry is maturing. VR Together’s mission helps us to acknowledge, and encourage the prospect of how VR and related emerging technologies improve people’s lives around the world.”

To learn more about the initiative and sign up head to the VR Together website. And for any further update, keep reading VRFocus.

December 6, 2016

M ss ng P eces Hires New Head of VR/AR/360 & Signs VR director Sam Smith

Entertainment and production company m ss ng p eces has created several virtual reality (VR) experiences including Inside Impact: East Africa featuring ex-president Bill Clinton and Honda: Music From Every Angle. Today the company has announced the hiring of a new head of VR, augmented reality (AR) and 360-degree video, Catherine Day. Its also signed VR director Sam Smith and also signed on with WME for representation.

Day’s previous role was at Jaunt VR as Executive Producer/Head of Unscripted, leading projects for ABC News, RYOT/Huffington Post, Camp 4 Collective, XRez, Tastemade, Outside TV, Civic Nation and Conservation International. In her new role, Catherine Day will drive VR/AR/360 efforts from m ss ng p eces’ Los Angeles office, and oversee several original VR series
that will be announced jointly with WME and partners in the coming months.

Inside Impact - East Africa

“When you’re working at the bleeding edge of media and technology, it’s incredibly difficult to figure out how to tell powerful stories,” said Day. “It’s also challenging to use the latest, often intimidating developments like VR in ways that help us to be more human rather than less. And yet consistently, m ss ng p eces has set the bar, on both of these notes, being the first-movers in every emerging medium – most recently, VR. Their approach as a creative studio is to handcraft clever, meaningful stories and experiences that capture and elevate the human spirit.”

As for VR director Sam Smith joining the company, Smith was creative director and VR director at MediaMonks working on projects for Expedia, Delta, Converse and YT. Smith also has an
extensive background in commercial visual effects. Bringing a deep understanding of post-production and VFX to the role gives him a unique edge in development of VR/360-degree projects, and as a technical advisor to m ss ng p eces.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of m ss ng p eces, reporting back with any further announcements.