Zombie apocalypse and virtual reality – what could be a better match? This development project served as a platform for us in order to create a globally new virtual reality format: authentic VR. For the first time were integrated here manifold interaction options for users into 360° live-action film material that otherwise exist only in 3D VR applications rendered in real time.
Within the scope of virtual reality there exist – broadly speaking – two camps: on the one hand,
computer-generated, artificial but fully interactive 3D worlds primarily used in the field of gaming. On
the other hand there are 360 degree videos which – unlike PC-generated images – contain real photo and
video material, but are always linear, not interactive. In other words: the user admittedly can look
around in the virtual world, but can't interact with it. Therefore game VR developers often call their
technology "TrueVR", in order to differentiate it from the 360 degree images.
We have developed a format that combines both worlds. With this technology, which we call "Authentic
VR", users can dive into a real world and interact with it. Thus the director takes charge anew of
navigating the course of dramatic composition and storytelling because that way we make sure that the
user won't miss anything. Authentic VR solves the main problem of storytelling in 360° films: users
often happen to look into the wrong direction and don’t see what they should see. With our new
technology users can intervene in the storyline – and the virtual world in turn reacts to users'
behaviour. In the field of gaming this isn’t a novelty, but with authentic VR the environment is real,
not an artificial one. That brings completely new options to tell stories in virtual reality.