Category: The VR Society

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Behind the Scenes at The VR Society’s VR On The Lot Conference

Oculus may have dominated the news this week thanks to its fourth annual Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) event, but that’s not to say it was the only one happening this week. Taking a broader look at the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) industries is The VR Society’s second staging of VR On The Lot, which began yesterday and ends today. 

VRFocus being the dedicated team to cover all immersive technology that it is decided to venture to VR On The Lot as OC4 had closed, venturing round to see the latest tech on offer on the show floor and to checkout some of the sessions taking place.

To take a sneak peek at what was going on check out the recap video below, then come back later to see what VRFocus  uncovered.

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Ready Player One Co-Writer Zak Penn Joins VR On The Lot

Returning for a second year is The VR Society’s VR On The Lot conference, being held at Hollywood at The Lot, home to Oprah Winfrey’s television Headquarters, taking place from 13th – 14th October. Today the organisers have announced that screenwriter Zak Penn, co-writer of upcoming feature Ready Player One will be there to have a fireside chat covering the film, virtual reality (VR) and more.

Penn, who has written over 20 screenplays including blockbusters like The Avengers and X-Men 2 will be joined onstage by Arvel Chappell III, Manager of Emerging Technology at Warner Bros. Entertainment, where the two will talk VR, AI, cinema and creating the immersive world of Ready Player One. Afterwards they then be opening the floor for member of the audience to ask questions.

On The Lot 2017

Also confirmed is two time Oscar and Grammy winning musician, composer and VR debut director AR Rahman who’ll be talking to Intel’s Ravindra Velhal to discuss Rahman’s upcoming episodic VR film Le Musk. For the talk the pair will be showing clips from the film and taking audience questions. Attendees will also have the chance to view the entire film in Positron chairs for a fully immersive haptic and olfactory experience.

Tickets are still available for VR On The Lot, with a Premier Pass going for $679 USD excluding fees or a single day pass costing $389. Discounts are available for Oculus Connect attendees, all entertainment guild members (PGA, DGA, WGA, etc.), students (with student ID) and seniors (62+).

Keynote speakers and panelists previously confirmed include: Roy Taylor (AMD Studios), Aaron Luber (Google), Rick Champagne (NVIDIA), Marcie Jastrow (Technicolor), Ted Schilowitz (Paramount Pictures), Robert Stromberg (Maleficent), Jerry Zucker (Airplane!, Ghost), Tony Parisi (Unity), and Gary Radburn (Dell).

For any further On The Lot updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Ready Player One Co-Writer Zak Penn Joins VR On The Lot

Returning for a second year is The VR Society’s VR On The Lot conference, being held at Hollywood at The Lot, home to Oprah Winfrey’s television Headquarters, taking place from 13th – 14th October. Today the organisers have announced that screenwriter Zak Penn, co-writer of upcoming feature Ready Player One will be there to have a fireside chat covering the film, virtual reality (VR) and more.

Penn, who has written over 20 screenplays including blockbusters like The Avengers and X-Men 2 will be joined onstage by Arvel Chappell III, Manager of Emerging Technology at Warner Bros. Entertainment, where the two will talk VR, AI, cinema and creating the immersive world of Ready Player One. Afterwards they then be opening the floor for member of the audience to ask questions.

On The Lot 2017

Also confirmed is two time Oscar and Grammy winning musician, composer and VR debut director AR Rahman who’ll be talking to Intel’s Ravindra Velhal to discuss Rahman’s upcoming episodic VR film Le Musk. For the talk the pair will be showing clips from the film and taking audience questions. Attendees will also have the chance to view the entire film in Positron chairs for a fully immersive haptic and olfactory experience.

Tickets are still available for VR On The Lot, with a Premier Pass going for $679 USD excluding fees or a single day pass costing $389. Discounts are available for Oculus Connect attendees, all entertainment guild members (PGA, DGA, WGA, etc.), students (with student ID) and seniors (62+).

Keynote speakers and panelists previously confirmed include: Roy Taylor (AMD Studios), Aaron Luber (Google), Rick Champagne (NVIDIA), Marcie Jastrow (Technicolor), Ted Schilowitz (Paramount Pictures), Robert Stromberg (Maleficent), Jerry Zucker (Airplane!, Ghost), Tony Parisi (Unity), and Gary Radburn (Dell).

For any further On The Lot updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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VR Society’s “On The Lot” Conference to Feature AR Seminars

Last year the VR Society held its inaugural ‘On The Lot’ virtual reality (VR) conference at Paramount Pictures Studios, in Los Angeles, California. Today the organisers have announced the second event will be moving to a new location and expanded with augmented reality (AR) sessions.

This year’s conference adds an entire AR track featuring one full day of seminars providing the very latest information and best practices for ARKit and ARCore developers.

“Due to the response from the Hollywood and Silicon Valley communities, this year’s event will require double the sound stage capacity to hold our group and the demonstrations,” said Jim Chabin, President of the Advanced Imaging and VR Societies in a statement. “We have long wanted to showcase AR professionals and their new technologies. “On The Lot” allows us to bring them together with our VR leaders along with the Hollywood creative community, tap this collective genius to drive everyone’s success forward.”

On The Lot 2017

Keynote speakers for the conference include AMD’s Roy Taylor, Tony Parisi (Global Head of VR/AR at Unity Technologies), Gary Radburn (Director of Workstation Virtualization and Commercial VR/AR at Dell) and two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker and founder of The Virtual Reality Company, Robert Stromberg.

While exhibitors for this years conference include AMD Studios, Barco, Create VR, Dell, Google, HP | Nvidia, Intel, Koncept VR, Legend, LOOT Interactive, Lytro, Positron, Sony Music, Technicolor, Time Inc., LIFE VR, Unity, Unreal Engine, VRC and DTS.

This year’s conference will be held in Hollywood at The Lot, home to Oprah Winfrey’s television Headquarters, taking place from 13th – 14th October. Tickets are on sale now with an Early Bird Premier Pass available for $449 USD excluding fees until 22nd September.

For any further On The Lot updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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The VR Society Announces the First ‘The Art of VR’ Festival in NYC

The VR Society has announced it’ll be launching a new virtual reality (VR) focused festival in New York City next month called The Art of VR.

A public, two-day event, The Art of VR festival will be showcasing the myriad ways VR and augmented reality (AR) are currently being used within fine art, museums, dance, theatre, film advertising, travel, real estate and medicine across the world.

The Art of VR NY Poster

Set to premiere at the festival will be Raising a Ruckus, animated adventure VR pilot episode produced by VRC and Robert Stromberg. Visitors will also get a sneak peek of the VR film “Le Musk” by two-time Oscar and Grammy winner, and global musical artist A.R. Rahman.

A space themed exhibit, curated by Sotheby’s and LOOT Interactive called Space VR Gallery will include the world premiere of The Apollo 11 VR Museum. There will also be Home – A VR Spacewalk by the BBC and Rewind, The Martian by Ridley Scott Robert Stromberg, Fox and VRC, and Buzz Aldrin: Cycling Pathways To Mars by 8i and LIFE VR.

“We are thrilled to join Sotheby’s in hosting The Art of VR. They’re the world’s leading art authority and the ideal partner to help us usher in this new art form,” said VR Society President, Jim Chabin. “The public is hungry to explore all the ways we can experience and work in virtual reality. The Art of VR is our chance to share the potential of this exciting new medium.”

There will be separate VR exhibitions and experiential galleries by HTC Vive, Oculus, Sony, HP, Dell, Time Inc.’s LIFE VR, and more. Additionally, the festival will feature live VR art performances/exhibitions by MacInnes Scott, Marina Berlin, BlueVishnu, Zenka, Kevin Mack, Jane Lafarge Hamill, Unity, The Magik Gallery, and VRART.

“New York City has always been at the forefront of the creative sector so we are delighted The VR Society has chosen to host The Art of VR in our city,” said Julie Menin, Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “As this event will showcase, virtual and augmented reality now intersect with so many industries that are based here – from fine art to real estate and from media to entertainment. Events like The Art of VR enable New Yorkers to experience these applications first-hand – something they’ll be able to do even more frequently when we open the nation’s first publicly funded VR/AR lab later this year.”

The Art of VR will be held at Sotheby’s New York on 22nd-23rd June 2017. For tickets to the festival go to TheArtofVRNY.com, with tickets for the two-day event starting at $50 USD.

For any further updates keep reading VRFocus.

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AIS and The VR Society Expand VR Categories for Lumiere Awards

Next month the 8th Annual Lumiere Awards take place, honouring creative work in movies, TV and virtual reality (VR). For this years event organisers The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society have expanded the VR category lineup, as well as recognising HTC CEO and Chairwoman Cher Wang, and Google Earth VR.

For 2017 the VR categories now include Best VR Experience, Best VR Film Experience, Best VR Animation & CGI, Best Episodic Content (360-degree), Best Live Action (360-degree), Best VR Documentary, Best VR Journalism, Best VR Sports, Best VR Music, Best VR Advertising/Branded Content, and Best VR Gaming.

2017_Lumiere_Awards

Wang will be presented with the organization’s Sir Charles Wheatstone Award. “With the HTC VIVE, Cher Wang and her team have created a groundbreaking room-scale VR platform that has enabled the production of a dazzling number of immersive VR experiences which have pushed the boundaries of entertainment. The result has surprised and delighted the industry and consumers,” said Society Awards Chair Buzz Hays.

While Google Earth VR will be honoured with the rarely presented Century Award, reserved for achievements the Society deems a ‘milestone’ in content. “The Google VR Experience empowers every citizen of the world to explore and learn about our world with VR,” said Society President Jim Chabin. “This achievement will enrich countless lives and expand our understanding of our planet in the coming years, and we are thrilled to honor Google’s virtual reality team.”

Also writer, director and producer Jon Favreau, the creator of the Gnomes & Goblins VR experience with Wevr and Reality One, as well as directing Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Chef, Cowboys and Aliens, Elf and Jungle Book, will be presented with the Society’s 2017 Harold Lloyd Award for Filmmaking.

The 2017 Lumiere Awards take place at Warner Bros. Studios, 13th February, 2017, in Hollywood, California. For an update on the winners, check back with VRFocus.

Virtual Reality Categories

VR – Gaming

A Chair in the Room: Greenwater – Wolf & Wood
Accounting – Squanchtendo with Crows Crows Crows
Batman: Arkham VR – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Battlezone – Rebellion Developments
Chronos – Gunfire Games
Eve: Valkyrie – CCP Games
Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs
Raw Data – Survios
Space Pirate Trainer – I-Illusions
Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One X-Wing VR Mission – DICE & Criterion Games
The Gallery – Episode 1 Call of the Starseed – Cloudhead Games
The Lab – Valve Corporation


VR – Film Experience

Fantastic Beasts – Warner Bros., Google, Framestore VR Studio
Ghostbusters VR Experience – Sony Pictures, The Void
Star Wars: Trial on Tatooine – ILM
Suicide Squad: Special Ops VR – Warner Bros., Mob Scene & Atlas Entertainment, MPC VR & Legend 3D
The Jungle Book – Through Mowgli’s Eyes Part 1: Trust in Me – Walt Disney Studios & Tangerine Apps
The Martian VR Experience – 20th Century Fox, Fox Innovation Lab, RSA Films, The Virtual Reality Company


VR – Animation & CGI

A VR Spacewalk – BBC
Allumette – Penrose Studios
Apollo 11 VR Experience – Immersive VR Education
Dear Angelica – Oculus Story Studio
Gnomes and Goblins – Jon Favreau, Wevr, Reality One
Grace – MacInnes Scott
Pearl – Google Spotlight Series
The Night Cafe: A VR Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh – Borrowed Light Studios
The Starry Night – Shanghai Media Group
theBlu – Wevr
Volt: Chain City – Vive Studios
Wide Awake President Trump VR Experience – MacInnes Scott


VR – Live Action

A Challenge – Brigantine Films
Cirque du Soleil, KÀ – Felix & Paul Studios
Knives – Adam Cosco
My Brother’s Keeper – PBS Digital Studios
Nomads: Sea Gypsies – Felix & Paul Studios
Perspective Ch. 2: The Misdemeanor – Specular Theory
The Harvest – Chapman University & AMD
The Mule – Dark Corner Studios
Through the Ages: President Obama Celebrates Americas National Parks – Felix & Paul Studios
VR Noir: A Day Before the Night – StartVR


VR – Episodic Content

Gone – Wevr
Halcyon – Syfy (produced by Secret Location)
Invisible – 30 ninjas, Condé Nast Entertainment (CNÉ), Jaunt VR, Samsung


VR – Documentary

A History of Cuban Dance – Lucy Walker
David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef – Atlantic Productions & Alchemy VR
Defying the Nazis VR – LIFE VR
Rhinos on the Move – Discovery VR
The Click Effect – Annapurna Pictures & Here Be Dragons
The Edge of Space – KonceptVR


VR – Journalism

Calais: The Jungle – Sky News
Chernobyl 30 Years Later – ABC News VR
Defying the Beast – World Vision & Koncept VR
Great Performers: L.A. Noir – New York Times VR
Out of Exile: Daniel’s Story – Nonny de la Peńa & Emblematic Group
Remembering Pearl Harbor – LIFE VR
Struggle for Survival in the Devastated City of Aleppo – CNN
Take Flight – New York Times VR
“Toxic Tour” 360 – Oil Exploitation in the Ecuadorian Amazon – Huffington Post RYOT
Valen’s Reef – Vice


VR – Sports

360 Rio 2016 Olympics VR – BBC Sport
Closer (featuring David Beckham) – Sky VR & Sky Sports
Experience the Rio Olympics in Virtual Reality – NBC Olympics & Samsung
Follow My Lead: The Story of the 2016 NBA Finals – Oculus Story Studio & m ss ng p eces
NFL Immersed – Episode 1: Eagles Defensive Line – NFL Immersed & Two Bit Circus
NFL Immersed – Episode 4: Melvin Gordon & the Chargers Game Day Prep – NFL Immersed & Two Bit Circus


VR – Music

Joshua Bell VR Experience – Sony PlayStation
Kygo: “Carry Me – The VR Experience” – Sony Music
OneRepublic: “Kids” – MPC Creative
Pentatonix: “Up on the Housetop” – Sony Music
TheWave – TheWaveVR
Waves – Wevr (with Reggie Watts)


VR – Branded

360 VR Tour of the Shinola Factory with Luke Wilson – Reel FX
Absolut Deadmau5 – Absolut
Audi’s VR Car Showroom Experience – Zero Light
Formula E “Leap of Faith” – Formula E & REWIND
Jack Daniel’s 360 VR Distillery Experience – Jack Daniel’s & The Mill
Jaguar: I-PACE – REWIND
Reimagine, VR Film by Etihad Airways with Nicole Kidman – The Barbarian Group
Stan Lee’s Cosmic Crusaders – The Hollywood Reporter, GBI, POW, Legend VR
The Field Trip to Mars – McCann (for Lockheed Martin) & Framestore
The Nature Conservancy: This is Our Future – MPC Creative

 

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Inaugural ‘VR On the Lot’ Conference Takes Place at Paramount Pictures Studio this Week

This Thursday the VR Society will be hosting its inaugural ‘VR On the Lot’ conference, a two-day event attended by major global studios, producers and production companies on the theme of “VR: Seeing is Believing.”

Those attending the conference will be directors such as Robert Stromberg (Maleficent), Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men: Apocalypse), James Foley (Fifty Shades Darker, House of Cards), writer Dan Harris (X-Men 2, Superman Returns, X-Men: Apocalypse), writer Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok), visual effects producer Dane Smith (Deadpool, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) and executive producer Victoria Alonso (Avengers: Infinity War,  Iron Man 3).

VR on the Lot

“This gathering of VR professionals is unique in the short history of this new medium,” said Jim Chabin, President & CEO Advanced Imaging Society. “We are bringing together experienced production pros with technology leaders to help VR become a sustainable creative business. Many of our VR colleagues have news to share so it will be a very informative gathering.”

The demonstration area will take place at Paramount’s 10,000 square foot Stage 4, with multiple exhibitions of head-mounted displays (HMDs) showcasing the latest VR experiences. While the panels for track 1 will be held in the Paramount Main Theater and track 2 in the Sherry Lansing Theater.

Track 1 will include short presentations and announcements by Hollywood studios and VR technology leaders, whilst providing a generalized look at where the VR industry is today and where it looks to be going. And for track 2, which is PGA-produced, is for both experienced VR and 360-degree content creators. Case studies here include those on two VR Series, Halcyon and Gone, and one on VR Animation, the 2016 Emmy-winning Henry, by Oculus Story Studios.

Tickets for track 1 are sold out but there are still some available for track 2. Scheduling and ticket info can be found here.

For all the latest VR event news, keep reading VRFocus.