The Sundance Film Festival can be accessed through a VR headset. (Image Credit: Sundance Institute)
This is about leading-edge technology we all can enjoy! I always wanted this. Too bad it had to come at such a high price.
Thanks to restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Sundance Film Festival is being hosted on a virtual platform. Anyone interested in attending just needs a $25 Explorer pass along with a virtual reality headset. The festival started on January 28th and ends on February 3rd. Sundance’s alternative film festival campus is meant for anyone who can’t attend the real event in Park City, Utah. It’s not meant to be equivalent to the main event. Instead, it’s a futuristic parallel reality that takes advantage of virtual reality’s capabilities.
Sundance’s platform can be accessed by logging onto a website. When using a computer, it appears as if the attendee is walking into a cinephile version of Second Life. Wearing an Oculus Quest or a PC-powered VR headset provides the user with a more immersive WebXR experience. It features a gathering area, with a spacious garden floating above the Earth surrounded by stars. To develop its platform, Sundance collaborated with the creative studio Active Theory.
There’s also a cocktail area (called the Film Party room) where attendees with a virtual body can socialize. Each body has an avatar with a face, making them more recognizable. This allows an attendee to distinguish one guest from another.
Every VR/AR media exhibition is displayed like a work of art at the New Frontier Gallery. Each piece has an explanation provided, which also includes instructions on how to view them. Experiences such as 4 Feet High VR can only be accessed by wearing a headset. Others like the meditative 7 Sounds are accessible with headphones.
You can also look over the New Frontier Gallery’s walls in VR to see the Earth rotating underneath you. What’s cooler is that you can go over to the International Space Station. From there, you can see Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, developed by the VR studio Felix & Paul.
However, not all films being shown at Sundance are included in the VR experience. Instead, attendees can access five-film features showing in the VR Cinema House while providing a way for guests to share their passion for film with others around the world. You can still hang out in the online-only festival area using a tablet or computer by logging into Sundance’s web portal.
The VR platform was meant for showcasing the festival’s importance on VR film creations through its New Frontier exhibition. Since the pandemic caused organizers to be more creative, it’s turned into a Sundance alternative universe that could stick around for good.
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