360-degree VR storytelling brings you face-to-fin underwater
You just might feel the need to dry off after experiencing theBlu: Season 1.
Wevr turned virtual reality (VR) headsets into wondrous scuba masks, transporting audiences to the depths of the ocean — and bringing natural history to life. One can reach out with a controller and touch a jellyfish (it responds) or encounter an 80-foot blue whale — all without getting wet.
The company’s acclaimed underwater adventure experience, theBlu: Season 1, takes audiences face-to-fin with some of the most awe-inspiring creatures in the ocean. It was recently shortlisted for a 2018 Windows Developer Award for Reality Mixer of the Year.
“What I like about the VR space is that it’s the best of every creative industry,” says Jake Rowell, a former art lead on Call of Duty who now serves as Wevr’s head of interactive. “There’s a lot of experimentation, so everyone shares their know-how in order to push the medium forward.”
Wevr is a VR studio that’s drawing audiences away from their rectangular screens, and into a world of 360-degree storytelling. Based in Venice, California, it’s home to some bright, creative minds, from Academy Award-winning filmmakers to animators, game designers, and engineers.
The power to alter our reality
“When you watch a movie on a flat screen, you tell people, ‘I watched this,’” says Jake. “Whereas when you go on a hike or travel to a new destination, you tell people about what you did in that space — what you saw. Done right, VR has the power to create memories that last forever.”
For Jake, who served as theBlu’s director, and Scott Reeser, Wevr’s technical director, bringing the wonders of the deep to life was “a true labor of love.”
The team worked with oceanographers to ensure a high degree of accuracy — which goes some way to explaining the, often dramatic, audiences reactions.
“When I give demos I almost need a tally counter for the number of wow’s,” says Scott, who began his career at Atari and joined Wevr on day one. “It’s pretty cool to see people duck out of the way as a whale’s tail whips as it swims off.”
“When I demoed it to my wife for the first time, she literally backed up to the point that she ran into a wall because the whale was so big,” says Jake. “But my most memorable experience has to be watching someone literally break down and cry because they never thought they’d have the opportunity to dive — or see such majestic creatures.”
From screensaver to smash hit
Surprisingly, theBlu started life as a humble screensaver. “It’s actually been in existence since 2010,” says Scott. “The initial part was a lightly interactive screensaver that ran on a PC.”
Wevr collaborated closely with Microsoft to develop theBlu into a room scale VR experience and bring it to an expanded audience.
“TheBlu code base lives in Unity,” says Jake. “It’s flexible and customizable and can achieve many different looks. Some parts are scripted, but the ocean still needs to feel alive and random.”
“It was great working with the team at Microsoft,” says Scott. “Their enthusiasm and scope of capabilities was impressive and allowed us to get theBlu up and running on their headsets. Microsoft did a really good job with things like the flip up visor — something that sounds simple, but saved us a lot of time.”
The next big leap
While the new medium poses creative challenges for directors and viewers alike, both are convinced that VR has the potential to reboot our relationship with movies and games.
“The sky’s the limit — even though we’re essentially playing with first-gen technology,” says Scott. “Displays have greatly outpaced the graphics hardware, so the GPU side needs to play catchup.”
Indeed, there’s a clear parallel, he says, between today’s VR technology and the dawn of video games. “The Atari 2600 came out, like, four or five years after the birth of the video games industry, so we were still playing with little joysticks. Imagine what the Xbox One is going to look like in 20 years with VR.”
The introduction of feet tracking could prove a game changer, too. “I want to see inside out tracking solutions for the body, so we can represent people as they are,” says Scott.
“I’m definitely excited about lighter weight VR gear — being completely wireless and untethered,” adds Jake. “As the technology shrinks and mobility improves, it’ll open up the possibilities of larger spaces. We’re only scratching at the surface of what a holodeck could be. We think VR has a tremendous amount of potential, not just for entertainment, but in terms of how with interface with the world and go about our daily lives.”
Check out theBlu in the Microsoft Store.
