Category: VRrOOm

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Venice VR Expanded Returns to VRChat With 35 Projects in September

Venice VR Expanded 2021

When it came to online virtual presentations in 2020 one of the best was Venice VR Expanded, part of the annual Venice International Film Festival. Now in its 78th edition, the prestigious film event returns in September in both physical and virtual form, with the virtual reality (VR) showcase once again being held within the social app VRChat.

The Last Worker
The Last Worker. Image credit: Jörg Tittel

This year Venice VR Expanded will feature a total of 37 immersive projects from 21 countries, with guests able to preview the official selection through VRChat. If you’re an accredited guest you’ll also be invited to “Meet the Creator” sessions, opening and closing parties, and other performances. Just like the 2020 edition, the Venice VR virtual world has been designed with the technical support of VRrOOm with a virtual version of Venice and the in-real-life VR Island Lazzaretto Vecchio.

New for 2021 is the Venice VRChat Worlds Gallery. This will have a selection of 35 virtual worlds “celebrating the creativity of creators using VRChat as a platform to build their own fantasy worlds.” As an additional extra, there will be five special events, including live performances, taking place across five VRChat virtual venues.

Venice VR Expanded is split into several categories, not all of which are available online. The “Competition” category has 23 projects, “Out of Competition – Best Of” is a selection of 12 VR works launched since the 2020 event; one “Out of Competition Special Event”, “Biennale College Cinema – Out of Competition” (one project), and then the VRChat Worlds Gallery. The special event and out of competition categories won’t be available online. Everything else will be, in partnership with HTC’s Viveport and Oculus.

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife

As for what’s on show during Venice VR Expanded 2021:

  • VRChat Worlds Gallery
    • A MAZE․ TRAIN STATION
    • AQUARIUS
    • ATLANTIS˸ SUPERRARE EXHIBITION
    • CLUB GUMBALL
    • CRAFTY CLIMB
    • ERS
    • CRYPT OF THE SPIRITS
    • CRYSTAL DUNES
    • CYCLE OF LIFE
    • DEEP BLUE NIGHT
    • EDEN
    • FFCR
    • FRANK
    • GUMBALL LOUNGE
    • KARAOKE CENTRA
    • LAST HOPE WATCH TOWER
    • LOST IT
    • MIRЯIM
    • MONORAIL COASTER
    • MONORAIL COASTER LITE
    • MOSCOW TRIP 1952
    • MUSEUM-OF-VRPAINTING
    • NOIR – CALL OF THE VOID (SPOOKALITY RELEASE｜TECH DEMO)
    • RAAWRS’ ELNO-THEL FOREST
    • SAPIENSTRUCT
    • SUBMERGE 2
    • SURREAL HAZARD
    • SXSW XR 2021
    • THE DEVOURING
    • THE EDGE
    • THE FORT
    • THE HALLWYL MUSEUM
    • THE JUNKYARDǃ
    • TREEHOUSE IN THE SHADE
    • UNCANNY ALLEY
    • WORLD.EXECUTE (ME)
    • VRChat Worlds Gallery – Special Events
    • BRAINDANCE
    • JEAN MICHEL JARRE CONCERT
    • M.A.S.S.
    • MYCELIA
    • SHELTER
  • In Competition
    • ENGELEN VAN AMSTERDAM (ANGELS IN AMSTERDAM)
    • END OF NIGHT
    • LA PLAGE DE SABLE ÉTOILÉ (THE STARRY SAND BEACH)
    • CAVES
    • BEDLAM
    • GENESIS
    • SPIRIT OF PLACE
    • TEARLESS
    • LUN HUI (SAMSARA) COMPLETE PART 1 AND 2 VERSION
    • CLAP
    • LE BAL DE PARIS DE BLANCA LI
    • BLISS IN THE EAR OF A STORM
    • IL DUBBIO – EPISODE 2
    • ANANDALA
    • GOLIATH: PLAYING WITH REALITY
    • MONTEGELATO
    • THE SEVERANCE THEORY: WELCOME TO RESPITE
    • CONTAINER
    • BING MEI GUEI (THE SICK ROSE)
    • MYRIAD.WHERE WE CONNECT. |VR EXPERIENCE
    • THE LAST WORKER
    • EXPLORING HOME
    • YI YUAN (THE FINAL WISH)
  • Special Event – Out of Competition
    • IN THE MIST
  • Biennale College Cinema – Out of Competition
    • LAVRYNTHOS

Venice VR Expanded will run from 1st – 19th September 2021. If you don’t have a VR headset you can also head to these collaborating physical spaces around the world during that time period. All part of the Venice VR Expanded Satellite Programme, you’ll need to make a reservation directly with each venue. The benefit of an onsite visit is the locations will present those works not available online.

  • Centre PHI, Montréal, Canada
  • Sandman Studios – Sandbox Immersive Festival, Beijing and Shanghai, China
  • MC2: Grenoble, Grenoble, France
  • Centquatre-Paris, Paris, France
  • Invr.Space, Berlin, Germany
  • MEET Digital Culture Center | Fondazione Cariplo, Milan, Italy
  • Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini – Laboratorio Aperto di Modena, Modena, Italy
  • Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin, Italy
  • M9 – Museum of the 20th Century, Venice Mestre, Italy
  • Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Less Media Group – Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), Moscow, Russia
  • Espronceda – Institute of Art & Culture, Barcelona, Spain
  • Euromersive Turkey – IKSV Salon & Kolektif House (Maslak), Istanbul, Turkey
  • Portland Art Museum & Northwest Film Center – Portland Art Museum, Portland, USA

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Venice VR Expanded, reporting back with the latest updates.

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SXSW Online XR Takes Place in VRChat Next Week

SXSW Online XR

2020 saw the likes of the Venice Film Festival, Raindance, Cannes and more switch to online programming, embracing virtual reality (VR) tracks through platforms like the Museum of Other Realities and VRChat. SXSW Online 2021 – which begins next week – had to follow suit as well, with SXSW Online XR providing a showcase of immersive content and industry discussion.

SXSW Online XR

For SXSW Online XR the film festival has turned to VRChat to host its immersive programming, with the platform offering artist representations of Congress Avenue and the Red River Cultural District for users to explore. In these two locations, guests will find the Paramount Theatre, The Contemporary and other spots where live sessions, meetups, special events, 360° videos from the Virtual Cinema program, and 2D video feeds of SXSW Online 2021 programming will be available.

The main content selection will be held under the Virtual Cinema banner split down into three subcategories:

  • Virtual Cinema Special Events
    • Dream – A live, online performance by The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • Theon Cross – ‘We Go Again’ – Virtual avatar of Theon Cross performing ‘We Go Again.’
    • Welcome To The Other Side –  Jean-Michel Jarre and French VR startup VRrOOm host a concert in a virtual Notre-Dame.
    • Backstage Tours of Mount Olympus – Tour the stage of Finding Pandora X.
  • Virtual Cinema Competition
    • Biolum (World Premiere)
    • (Hi)story of a Painting (World Premiere)
    • Of Hybrids and Strings (World Premiere)
    • The Passengers: Her & Him (International Premiere)
    • Poison (World Premiere)
    • A Promise Kept (World Premiere)
    • Reeducated (World Premiere)
    • Samsara (World Premiere)
    • Space Explorers: The ISS Experience Episode 2: Advance (World Premiere)
  • Virtual Cinema Spotlight
    • 4 Feet High VR
    • Finding Pandora X
    • Meet Mortaza
    • Namoo
    • Odyssey 1.4.9
    • Once Upon a Sea
    • Paper Birds
    • Potato Dreams
    • Under the Skin
    • WebbVR: The James Webb Space Telescope Virtual Experience
SXSW Online XR

“SXSW really wanted to create a space in the virtual world that brought Austin to life in a spectacular way,” said Blake Kammerdiener, XR and Film Programmer in a statement. “So we came together with Louis Cacciuttolo and his company VRrOOm, whose recent work includes Welcome to The Other Side with Jean-Michel Jarre, and artist Vincent Masson to create this fantastical virtual space that honours Austin, and a few of the venues that we are gutted to not be using this year.”

The festival isn’t purely about films, it’ll play host to the SXSW Gaming Awards with a VR specific category featuring Half-Life: Alyx, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Down the Rabbit Hole, Star Wars: Squadrons and  Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.

Unlike some of the other online festivals, SXSW Online 2021 won’t be offering a free public area to get a taster of the event. You’ll have to go through the official registration which costs $325 USD giving you access to the entire festival. For further updates on SXSW Online 2021, keep reading VRFocus.

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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.

Posted on

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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VRrOOm XR Platform Launched at Venice Film Festival

The Venice Film Festival ends tomorrow with the event seeing a variety of new immersive film content being premiered. Saved until the end, media platform VRrOOm, dedicated to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) news curation and content distribution, has announced the launch of the VRrOOm XR app.

VRrOOm

Designed to make the world’s festivals and cultural events accessible to global audiences, the VRrOOM XR app will begin by showcasing VR films from the festival’s VR competition lineup. They’ll be available, free of charge, for a period of one month, from 9th September to 8th October, 2018.

“To continue paving the way in elevating Virtual Reality to the status of a legitimate art form, we need to constantly think forward on what will be relevant to our mission as pathfinders that a whole industry is looking up to set the new standard of excellence,” said Andrea Del Mercado, general manager of Venice International Film Festival in a statement. “Making the VR films exhibited at Venice International Film Festival’s VR section available online to a much wider international audience expands the impact of La Biennale di Venezia’s commitment to VR and its investment far beyond the exhibition.”

Having developed the XR platform in conjunction with France’s Bemersive the launch line-up will include 9 VR films competing at Venice Biennale in World Premiere, with further programmes showcasing works from other festivals to be announced later this month.

Buddy VR

“We want to create a virtual space that’s constantly evolving, where our public and VR artists can interact in an intensely creative environment,” said Louis Cacciuttolo, founder and CEO of VRrOOm. “Core to our company vision, VRrOOm’s XR platform will be filled with a perpetual flow of energy that will keep the creators and the public excited, enlightened, and entertained.”

VRrOOm’s VR festivals app features a virtual auditorium specially designed by THX Ltd.

The official launch takes place tomorrow, 8th September, with the VRrOOm’s XR app supporting iOS, Android, and Google Daydream systems for VR-enabled mobile phones, as well as HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go and Gear VR, downloadable through Viveport and Oculus stores. For further updates on VRrOOM, keep reading VRFocus.

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VRrOOm To Launch Syndication Program For Location Based VR Centres

Originally founded in 2016, the aim of VRrOOm was to bring virtual reality (VR) experiences to a broader range of people, along with helping to accelerate the growth of the VR market. In furtherance of that aim, VRrOOm is launching a syndication program called Speedr to help make high-quality VR experiences available to all.

Founder of VRrOOm Louis Cacciuttolo believes that location-based VR outlets are the key to bringing VR to a wider audience, and in order to further the efforts of location-based VR, Speedr is hoping to offer a syndication of quality VR content to make is available to various VR outlets. The company also hopes this will spur further development of high-quality VR content for location-based VR, since there is more likely to be a guaranteed market for it to be sold to.

Cacciuttolo said: “Speedr is meant to accelerate the growth of the VR entertainment market by bridging the numerous gaps existing between VR content producers / developers, distributors, technology or equipment suppliers, and the audience. We believe that physical outlets providing quality VR experiences are the key to unlock the market and we want to help our Location Based

Experience (LBE) partners succeed.” he continued, “VR is taking too long, and Speedr is born to make it happen faster. Industry professionals are suffering but few concrete steps are taken to tackle the immediate causes of the issue. Speedr is like a spider building a net to link all VR entertainment industry actors together, in order to attract a larger audience with better offers across a stronger and wider platform, as soon as possible.”

VRFocus will bring you further information on Speedr and VRrOOm as it becomes available.