The strange, fluffy bird-like creatures called Porgs first seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi were embraced by internet, promptly becoming the subject of endless jokes and memes, not a bad result for a CGI creature created to cover up how many puffins were on the shooting location. Now the porgs are back, this time in mixed reality (MR) thanks to an immersive experiment from ILMxLAB.
Project Porg is somewhat like a virtual pet simulator, where players need to gain the trust and affection of the porgs by offering them treats and playing with them.
Instructions on the care and feeding of Porgs are provided by the ever-helpful and fussy protocol droid C-3PO. Players will be able to teach the virtual Porgs how to manoeuvre around real-world environments and perhaps even teach them tricks.
The MR experience is planned to debut at the Magic Leap LEAP conference, which is taking place from 9th-10th October in Los Angeles. A demo of Project Porg will be available on the show floor during the event.
Further details on Project Porg will be revealed by ILMxLAB Executive in Charge Vicki Dobbs Beck during the conference keynote, which is due to begin at 9am PT on 10th October, 2018.
For those attending the LEAP Conference, Michael Koperwas of ILMxLAB will be hosting a talk titled ‘Galactic Lessons with Mixed Reality Storytelling. This will take place from 1:40pm PT on Wednesday 10th October, 2018. Koperwas will be addressing conference attendees on the collaboration with Magic Leap and how the company approaches storytelling in the emerging medium of MR.
Also due to speak at the LEAP Conference is John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications, Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop, Nick Whiting of Epic Games and Timoni West of Unity Technologies.
Further information on the LEAP Conference can be found on the official Magic Leap website. Future coverage of new and upcoming MR projects will continue to be covered here on VRFocus.
