Category: Voyager

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29 Halloween Horrors Come To VRrOOm Via The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival

As you will all no doubt be very aware the onset of October means only one thing (two things if you count shops start putting up Christmas displays for some reason) and that is a deluge of all things spooky, scary and skeleton-filled. Halloween is coming, and there is quite literally no stopping it.

Today the latest horror tinged announcement comes from France as The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival (SEFFF) looks to bring its Halloween selection of twenty-nine scary short films (6 in regular and 23 in 360 degree format) to VRrOOm’s XR platform. For a month, beginning today and ending on November 8th 2018, VRrOOm’s XR platform will host a variety of SEFFF experiences that will appeal to lovers of  sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.

The partnership announcement with SEFFF comes a month after the app, developed with Paris-based agency Bemersive, was launched in partnership with the Venice Film Festival. VRrOOm also plan to announce their next program later this month.

“The VRrOOm’s XR platform is dedicated to providing a virtual stage to the world’s finest festivals and cultural events, reflecting on how today’s exhibition and distribution of films go hand-in-hand in a fast-changing landscape of how art and artists relate to their audiences across all media.” Said the company in a statement. “The app also features a virtual cinema room designed according to THX’s certification program guidelines. The THX Certified Cinema virtual auditorium is a celebration of the art of filmmaking, allowing the audience members to experience the power of storytelling in the world’s most personal cinema.”

VRrOOm - Halloween 2018

The app is free to access for interested parties to download and ais available on both iOS and Android, with support for Google Daydream headsets. Additionally the app is also available on the app is also available on both Viveport and the Oculus Store, with support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR.

The full list of experiences and short films are as follows: Kinch And The Double World, Portal, King of Infinite Space, Crackle, Going Home, Mister Vampire, The Ghostbusters, Space X Girl VR, Your Spiritual Temple Sucks, Voyager, Damage Control, Babs, Just After Midnight, A Loft In Paradise, Saint Hubert, Knives, Seance, Mirror Man, Burlap, The Invisible Man, 11:57, Blood Room, Coyote, Death Van, Fan Club, Joy Ride, Teddy’s Bear Picnic, Last Man Standing and Zombie Apocalypse.

VRFocus will bring you more news on the developments in VR film very soon.

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29 Halloween Horrors Come To VRrOOm Via The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival

As you will all no doubt be very aware the onset of October means only one thing (two things if you count shops start putting up Christmas displays for some reason) and that is a deluge of all things spooky, scary and skeleton-filled. Halloween is coming, and there is quite literally no stopping it.

Today the latest horror tinged announcement comes from France as The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival (SEFFF) looks to bring its Halloween selection of twenty-nine scary short films (6 in regular and 23 in 360 degree format) to VRrOOm’s XR platform. For a month, beginning today and ending on November 8th 2018, VRrOOm’s XR platform will host a variety of SEFFF experiences that will appeal to lovers of  sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.

The partnership announcement with SEFFF comes a month after the app, developed with Paris-based agency Bemersive, was launched in partnership with the Venice Film Festival. VRrOOm also plan to announce their next program later this month.

“The VRrOOm’s XR platform is dedicated to providing a virtual stage to the world’s finest festivals and cultural events, reflecting on how today’s exhibition and distribution of films go hand-in-hand in a fast-changing landscape of how art and artists relate to their audiences across all media.” Said the company in a statement. “The app also features a virtual cinema room designed according to THX’s certification program guidelines. The THX Certified Cinema virtual auditorium is a celebration of the art of filmmaking, allowing the audience members to experience the power of storytelling in the world’s most personal cinema.”

VRrOOm - Halloween 2018

The app is free to access for interested parties to download and ais available on both iOS and Android, with support for Google Daydream headsets. Additionally the app is also available on the app is also available on both Viveport and the Oculus Store, with support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR.

The full list of experiences and short films are as follows: Kinch And The Double World, Portal, King of Infinite Space, Crackle, Going Home, Mister Vampire, The Ghostbusters, Space X Girl VR, Your Spiritual Temple Sucks, Voyager, Damage Control, Babs, Just After Midnight, A Loft In Paradise, Saint Hubert, Knives, Seance, Mirror Man, Burlap, The Invisible Man, 11:57, Blood Room, Coyote, Death Van, Fan Club, Joy Ride, Teddy’s Bear Picnic, Last Man Standing and Zombie Apocalypse.

VRFocus will bring you more news on the developments in VR film very soon.

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‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Is Making His VR Debut In A New Short Film Entitled “Shady Friend”

It seems that the ever popular ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic is making his virtual reality (VR) debut in a new comedic short film called Shady Friend. The film is being produced exclusively for the Positron Voyager VR motion chair and that could lead to a rather interesting result, given the kind of work Yankovic is known for you.

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Rex/Shutterstock

The news comes from Variety who note that Shady Friend is all about a heartbroken hero who accidentally takes some psychedelic drugs, his less-than reputable buddy has brought over to his apartment. Apparently the experience will also feature scents and haptic elements, along with the motion of the Positron Voyager VR motion chairs.

Principal photography for Shady Friend has concluded, though there is no word on a release date at this point. Alongside Yankovic the title will also stars former SNL writer Nick Kocher, Nick Rutherford (Brigsby Bear) and Minka Kelly (The Roommate, Friday Night Lights). It is being written by Andrew Disney and Bradley Jackson and is being directed by the former. The whole project is being jointly produced by Positron and Ralph Smyth Entertainment.

“What I love most about the Voyager platform is that it allows filmmakers to curate VR experiences in a cinematic way,” Said director Andrew Disney, to Variety. “Positron has created quite an amazing tool for immersive storytelling.”

This will be the first time that a VR film has been created exclusively for the Positron Voyager VR motion chairs, which till now are only available as select theaters and VR centers. Originally debuted back at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival as part of its New Frontier programme, the chairs offer a more immersive way for users to enjoy content. They offer motorized rotation, pitch, and haptics that will enable directors and content creators sync the motion of the chair with the visuals and audio of the media.

As mentioned, there is no word on a release date just yet or what viewers can expect from the experience but given Yankovic’s history and the subject matter, it is sure to be a trippy and thrilling comedy experience. For all the latest on Shady Friend in the future keep reading VRFocus.

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Positron’s Voyager VR Chair Coming to Europe via mk2 Distribution Deal

During the Cannes Film Festival this week LA-based virtual reality (VR) studio Positron announced that its Voyager VR chair will be coming to Europe thanks to a new distribution deal with location-based VR company mk2.

The deal will allow Positron to offer premium cinematic VR experiences to European audiences through its Voyager full-motion VR chair and Voyager Network distribution platform. mk2 has become the first official distributor of Voyager and will represent the territories of France and Spain exclusively.

“Our exciting partnership with mk2 marks a major step forward for location-based entertainment and demonstrates Positron’s blueprint for bringing a premium, seated VR solution to global audiences through our Voyager distribution network of motion-synchronized theaters,” said Jeffrey Travis, CEO, Positron, in a statement.

Positron debuted Voyager during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival as part of its New Frontier programme. For public, location-based use multiple chairs can be configured as a VR cinema, with synchronized or separate content screenings. While the Voyager Network allows for premium VR content to be delivered to Voyagers anywhere in the world, and has been used by studios such as Universal Pictures (The Mummy Zero Gravity VR Experience), and Warner Bros. (Save Every Breath: The Dunkirk VR Experience).

Positron Voyager

“We’re thrilled to partner with Positron to deliver the future of cinematic VR to European audiences,” said Elisha Karmitz, CEO at mk2. “In Voyager, we’ve discovered an unprecedented motion and distribution platform that offers creators a deeper level of immersion that cinematic VR experiences, and their audiences, deserve. We’re delighted to add Voyager to our diverse suite of turnkey VR solutions.”

Over the past year or so mk2 has expanded its operations, opening a dedicated VR facility at its Paris multiplex, mk2 Bibliothèque in 2016 with Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR headsets on offer. Much more recently the company unveiled a VR plug-and-play solution for VR out-of-home centres called the Mk2 VR Pod. This is designed for use in places such as cinemas, museums, institutions and other locations, offering twelve VR pod configurations using HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. For further details on Positron and mk2, keep reading VRFocus.

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VR Theatre Experience Incorporating Voyager VR Chair

Last year, Positron unveiled its VR Chair, Voyager, at the Sundance Film Festival, offering immersive enhancement to several virtual reality (VR) films shown at the festival. Continuing this idea, Positron have teamed up with Ace Hotel, RYOT and Skybound to offer a week of VR Theatre.

The Voyager is a fully integrated VR theatre unit which offers motorised rotation, pitch and haptic feedback that synchs with the VR experience played through the attached VR headset to provide a deeply immersive cinema experience by complementing the existing visuals and soundtrack.

This week-long event will mark the first time that the Voyager VR chair has been made available outside of special events and private festivals. The Ace Hotel at Segovia Hall in Los Angeles will be delivering a carefully curated program of VR films from Monday 19th to 26th February, 2018.

The announced program so far features Dinner Party, a VR experience based upon the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who reported the first alien abduction in the USA in 1961. Dinner Party is directed by Angel Manuel Soto and produced by RYOT and Skybound.

Also on the program is Melita, a sci-fi story about Anaaya, an Inuit scientist who is striving to find a new world for human kind to inhabit as Earth is facing encroaching catastrophe. Helping Anaaya is Melita, an advanced AI who is trying to help save humanity from extinction. Melita is directed by Nicholas Alcala and produced by Future Lighthouse.

A third VR film is also planned to be added to the bill, but no details on what this will be have been released yet. Further information and tickets for the event can be found on the Ace Hotel website. Tickets cost $35 (USD).

As always, VRFocus will keep you updated will the latest now on VR-related events.

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The Mummy Zero Gravity VR Experience Coming to The Shop at NBC Studios in NYC

During the recent South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, Universal Pictures, IMAX and engineering firm Positron premiered a virtual reality (VR) experience based on the new Tom Cruise movie The Mummy. Now The Mummy Zero Gravity Stunt VR Experience is getting a much more public outing, coming to The Shop at NBC Studios in New York City this month.

The experience allows the public to go behind-the-scenes with The Mummy stars Cruise and Annabelle Wallis whilst they perform one of the stunts from the film, an intense zero-g segment involving a plane crash. Visitors will be strapped into Positron’s Voyager platform, a full-motion chair designed for cinematic VR. Combining unique software and hardware technology, Voyager guides the viewers’ attention to points of interest in the experience by incorporating gentle motorized yaw and pitch motion and haptic feedback.

Voyager - image 1

There’s an added bonus for those going to see the VR experience. Alongside photo-ops with actual props from The Mummy they’ll be able to play a new title from Starbreeze Studios, The Mummy Prodigium Strike on StarVR.

Players are cast in the role of a Prodigium Agent and are tasked with capturing the ancient Princess Ahmanet—while battling hordes of ravens, spiders and the undead. From ground battles to fighting out of a helicopter, players must protect their fellow agents as The Mummy grows in power, battling to the finish to capture her, or be her slave for eternity. The videogames’ exact availability dates are to be announced soon.

The Mummy Zero Gravity Stunt VR Experience will arrive at The Shop at NBC Studios (30 Rockefeller Plaza, NYC) on Saturday, 27th May, and run through to Sunday, 11th June 2017, from 9am to 6pm daily. Limited reservations will be taken daily, and walk-ins are also welcome.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of The Mummy Zero Gravity Stunt VR Experience, reporting back with any further updates.

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Positron Debuting its VR Chair Voyager at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival

Yesterday the 2017 Sundance Film Festival began, showcasing a wide range of cinematic experiences, from short films and animations all the way to 360-degree and virtual reality (VR) content. In a festival debut, Positron, a Los Angeles-based VR studio has unveiled its full-motion VR chair platform Voyager as part of New Frontier.

Voyager is a fully integrated, VR theatre incorporating motorized rotation, pitch, and haptics. Its technology allows VR directors to encode a motion and haptic track to complement the existing visuals and audio, delivering an enhanced immersive experience. Voyager will screen select VR works from the New Frontier program, including If Not Love and Orbital Vanitas during the event.

Voyager - image 1

“Positron is thrilled to offer cinema lovers at the Sundance Film Festival the opportunity to experience a completely new level of immersion in VR storytelling with Voyager,” said Jeffrey Travis, creator of the chair and CEO of Positron. “New Frontier is the ideal forum to share groundbreaking technology that provides filmgoers with a completely relaxed VR motion experience while empowering filmmakers to direct the viewer’s attention to points of interest in the story.”

“We’re truly excited to be presenting our VR experience, Orbital Vanitas, to Sundance Film Festival audiences through Voyager and the revolutionary motion it provides for cinematic VR,” said Shaun Gladwell, Lead Artist. Leo Faber, screenwriter and executive producer on the film adds: “To have the technological tools that enable us to further deepen the narrative through Voyager’s gentle motion and haptics is now a very happy reality for VR storytellers.”

Few details have been released on Voyager so far in regards to specifications, price, or release date. Jennifer Rundell, COO & Co-Founder, Positron has commented: “We discovered after gathering data from over 1,500 people, that Voyager solves the critically important problem of discomfort and motion sickness. Voyager is an exceptional seated VR solution that offers gentle motion that’s organically connected to the storytelling, and users who previously experienced motion sickness with VR report they no longer suffer from it in our chair. Voyager takes into account how our bodies need to be involved while allowing people to experience VR with more of their senses, to relax and go magical places, leaving the current physical space behind.”

As VRFocus learns more about Voyager and whether it’ll be a consumer product, we’ll let you know.