Pete Billington – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

November 7, 2019

Wolves in the Walls Chapter 3: They’re Everywhere Out Now on Oculus Store

Today sees the launch of Fable’s third Wolves in the Walls chapter, titled They’re Everywhere. While using the medium of virtual reality (VR) the studio describes itself more as a ‘Virtual Beings’ company because of the main protagonist in the series, Lucy, who is more than just a character from a book.

Lucy screenshot

In the previous two chapters, Wolves in the Walls: We Need Proof and Wolves in the Walls: It’s All Over Lucy has been learning and forming memories of her interactions with the audience, adapting and weaving those into the final story resolution.

Lucy has a vivid imagination and as the viewer, you’re her imaginary friend. But Lucy’s imagination proves to be a reality, and you need to help her discover what’s hiding inside the walls of her house. Based on the 2003 children’s book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, this final chapter expands upon the mystery and you’ll connect with Lucy’s Nana.

“Having lost their house and all of their possessions, they finally come to terms with the fact that Nana is gone. It was the memories of all the things they did together that made their house a home, and something worth fighting for,” explains co-creator Pete Billington. “Lucy is the first one to realize this. Her beloved Pig Puppet is the talisman gift that Nana gave her, charged with all of that mnemonic energy. She must rescue Pig Puppet, the same way we run out of a burning house saving our photo album of irreplaceable memories.”

Wolves in the Walls

“We constantly ride the line between what is real and what is imagination. As Lucy’s imaginary friend, we see the world through her eyes, her mind and her thoughts. We are an extension of her. When she starts to doubt herself — wondering if the wolves are just her “imagination”, if it’s all “in her head”, our abilities as an imaginary friend start to come into question as well. In that moment, we start to see the world in fragments… through Lucy’s drawings. This sequence, when the wolves finally come out of the walls, was designed by Carlos Felipe Leon,” adds co-creator Jessica Shamash.

At the end of the experience, you can decide to continue being Lucy’s friend, offering an opportunity to create new memories together.

Wolves in the Walls Chapter 3: They’re Everywhere is available now on the Oculus Store for Oculus Rift. For further updates on Fable’s virtual beings keep reading VRFocus.

August 24, 2019

Virtual Being Project Wolves in the Walls Wins Emmy Award

Over the last few years, there have been several virtual reality (VR) projects nominated and even successfully taking home an Emmy Award. This week, creative studio Fable and its project Wolves in the Walls achieved the coveted award. In doing so, helping lead character Lucy become the first virtual being to win an Emmy.

Lucy screenshot

Wolves in the Walls: It’s All Over (Part 1) won the primetime Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media’, a project which was a VR adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean’s children’s book. Originally an Oculus Story Studio project, when it closed Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington co-founded virtual beings company Fable, taking on the project with support from Facebook.

The story follows Lucy, a young girl who has a seemingly vivid imagination until events prove that that isn’t the case. She hears noises within the walls convinced that wolves are making the eerie sounds, and the only way to keep them at bay is believing they’re real. As an interactive story, you accompany Lucy around the house helping fend the wolves off while none of her family believes her.

One of the main aspects of Lucy is the fact that she is one of the earliest examples of a virtual being, an AI-powered character with which viewers can build a two-way friendship. Thanks to machine learning Lucy will interact with viewers in natural ways, helping build a greater emotional connection. Fable also has plans to introduce memory, so that viewers actions will have consequences in later instalments.

“Sometimes when you are exploring in the dark it’s comforting to know that others are not too far away, hands outstretched, searching alongside you. It has been inspiring to be part of this juried award category. We are humbled and grateful for the encouragement and recognition,” said Pete Billington, Creative Director and co-founder of Fable Studio in a statement.

Wolves in the Walls

“This is the first Virtual Being project to receive an Emmy but it won’t be the last. Virtual Beings from Lil Miquela to Mica, from Alexa to Lucy are revolutionizing storytelling and beginning to harness machine learning to create meaningful relationships with us. Eventually, a Virtual Being will win an Oscar for their performance in a live-action movie, win a Grammy for best album of the year, be your favourite celebrity on Instagram, your favourite spiritual guide and, eventually … your OS,” adds Edward Saatchi, Executive Producer and co-founder of Fable Studio.

Virtual beings are going to become more and more prominent as developers strive for greater immersion within VR worlds. To check out the experience for yourself, Wolves in the Walls: It’s All Over can be downloaded for free for Oculus Rift/Rift S. For further updates on the project, keep reading VRFocus.

January 18, 2018

Oculus Story Studio Alumni Form New Studio to Push Boundaries of VR Storytelling & Affordability

Oculus Story Studio, the company’s internal production studio tasked with creating ridiculously polished cinematic experiences, first announced they’d be winding down production last summer. Now officially defunct, studio alumni are heading off on their own to form a new firm dubbed Fable Studio, which is furthering development on Story Studio’s last remaining project, Wolves in the Walls. Fable is also introducing a new pricing model for its upcoming character-driven VR experiences.

Oculus Story Studio co-founder Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington, director of Wolves in the Walls, join as co-founders of Fable Studio. Fable is launching with the premiere of Chapter 1 of Wolves in the Walls at Sundance New Frontiers on January, 19th. The project, a VR adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s book The Wolves in the Walls, will span three chapters.

Shortly after Oculus Story Studio ended production on the Emmy Award-winning Henry in early 2015, the team wanted to dig further into one of the most important problems in VR—creating an experience with an interactive character that’s both natural and meaningful. The goal is essentially feeling like you’re really inhabiting a space with a thinking, feeling person. Fable says Wolves in the Walls protagonist Lucy displays natural behaviors, as she can “remember and callback to actions you’ve taken in a story, be handed and hand you objects, be interrupted credibly and have a hierarchy of emotions toward different objects.”

“Where we’re going is not VR movies anymore. It’s characters who live with us and who we believe in,” said studio co-founder Edward Saatchi, pointing towards the future of character-building.

Fable says all of its future projects will be paid experiences, something they hope will “kickstart a new phase in VR movies of charging for content and seeking to break even.” The studio will charge $1 for every 10 minutes of content, meaning a 20 minute experience would cost $2. Considering how arbitrary pricing seems to most people right now, setting a standard pricing model could give smaller studios incentive to start creating VR narratives.

After Wolves in the Walls, Fable has announced four upcoming projects that will all explore “different elements of VR,” all of which are hand-made in VR using Oculus Quill and other Made in VR tools.