Category: VRSE

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Batman and Jurassic World Get their own VR Headsets

Google Cardboard style virtual reality (VR) headsets are arguably going out of fashion. Despite a boom period post-launch in 2014, the trend to create cheap plastic editions of the headsets is slowly reducing due to crowded marketplace and the falling prices of high-end mobile VR head-mounted displays (HMDs). VRSE, however, seems to believe that the answer to fighting this trend is with branded content.

VRSE BatmanTwo new smartphone-based headsets from VRSE are set to launch at retail this holiday season, featuring a unique aesthetic designed around the Batman and Jurassic World franchises. Each will come complete with a uniquely themed 3 degrees of freedom (3DoF) controller and an exclusive VR videogame based on the respective franchises.

The VRSE SR10006 Batman Headset features a matt black finish with the famous Bat Symbol emboldened on the front plate, behind which the Android smartphone is inserted. The 3DoF controller included also thematically represents the franchise, and includes both a d-pad and input buttons.

The included videogame is designed to immerse players in the world of the Caped Crusader as they become the world’s greatest detective. Playing as Batman, you’ll battle your way through Gotham City, play with or against your friends in multiplayer and take a step back with additional arcade style mini-games.

The Jurassic World themed headset, VRSE SR10007 Jurassic World Headset, is similar in design to the Batman headset, though is khaki coloured and features three scratch marks across the face plate. The included VR videogame sees players escape the hunt of the dreaded Indominus Rex in either single-player or and multiplayer co-operative levels.

Both franchises have already birthed VR experiences, with Batman: Arkham VR available for high-end HMDs and Jurassic World: Apatosaurus having launched for the Samsung Gear VR back in 2015.

Set to launch later this year, you can now pre-order the VRSE SR10006 Batman Headset and the VRSE SR10007 Jurassic World Headset for £69.99 GBP each. VRFocus will keep you updated with the latest VR headsets from VRSE and the future of branded content in the immersive technology industry.

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Within and Fox Partner to Create VR Content, Spike Jonze to Co-Produce Original VR Film

Content distribution platform and VR studio Within is partnering up with FoxNext, a recently created immersive media division of 21st Century Fox. The new partnership is promising to “bring viewers a new slate of virtual reality experiences this year,” the first of which will be based on Fox’s Planet of the Apes franchise.

The first VR project, based on the dystopian sci-fi film, will be directed and produced by Within Founder and CEO Chris Milk. The creators say the project will utilize artificial intelligence to deliver a shared social experience that will be available on the Within app and across both VR and AR platforms.

rise of the planet of the apes
Image courtesy 21st Century Fox

Annapurna Pictures will also be partnering with Within and FoxNext to create an original VR film called I Remember You (working title). Milk is set to produce and direct the film, and develop alongside award-winning director Spike Jonze and Annapurna Pictures Founder Megan Ellison. The film will be available through Within, an app that is available on SteamVR for PC VR headsets and Oculus Home for Gear VR.

Annapurna’s VR titles have included Evolution of Verse, The Click Effect, and two upcoming projects Life of Us and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Protectors for National Geographic, both of which are currently at Sundance and will see a general release on the Within app in 2017.

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Within announced a $12.4m series A funding round last June, taking on a number of investors from established media including 21st Century Fox, Annapurna Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and Vice Media.

“Virtual reality is the next generation of entertainment and PLANET OF THE APES provides the perfect canvas to create a new kind of filmmaking experience that will further immerse fans into the franchise,” said Salil Mehta, President, FoxNext. “In partnership with visionary filmmakers like Chris, and companies like Within, Fox will continue to push the envelope to create immersive experiences that bring audiences into the action like never before.”

The post Within and Fox Partner to Create VR Content, Spike Jonze to Co-Produce Original VR Film appeared first on Road to VR.

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‘The Possible’: First Episode of Virtual Reality Series is Available Now

‘The Possible’: First Episode of Virtual Reality Series is Available Now

Earlier this week, one of the world’s very first virtual reality series was released. The Possible is the name of a five-part immersive documentary directed by David Geld and featuring robots from the prestigious engineering company, Boston Dynamics. The series is intended to give people intimate peeks inside areas that they otherwise would never be able to access.

The first episode, Hello Robot, brings viewers up close and personal with the advanced robotics of Boston Dynamics. According to the episode’s official synopsis: “Go face-to-face with the world’s most advanced robots and get a rare look inside Boston Dynamics’ top secret lab, never before open to the public.”

The Possible is being made available on Within — a content curation app for VR videos. Within was formerly known as Vrse and is the creation of notable immersive filmmaker Chris Milk. In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this year, Milk said of The Possible:

“Everything feels very one-off in virtual reality,” Milk said in an interview. “We want to give people a reason not just to watch something cool but watch something cool and then come back. It’s a simple concept that we are very used to in television but not one that we have really fully explored in virtual reality.”

Geld is the acclaimed director of popular documentaries such as Netflix’s The Chef’s Table or the critical darling Jiro Dreams of Sushi. He has a talent for finding the visual beauty in commonplace areas like food, and so it will be interesting to see what he’s capable of with more objectively frenetic material.

The robots featured in The Impossible’s first episode are revolutionary and seeing them in full 360 inside one of the many Within compatible VR headsets is truly engaging spectacle.

Within and The Impossible are available now for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and PlayStation VR.

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