jordanh, Author at VR Playhouse Immersive Content for VR and AR

Sep 22

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The Value of Virtual Tragedy

The concept of presence, of being virtually and magically transported to a place, real or imagined, and having the feeling of truly being there, has always been and will continue to be, one of the chief selling points of virtual reality. But that concept of presence, and the value that VR gives to it, becomes much more complex when we’re talking about a place and an experience that no one would want to be present for. Such is the case when it comes to “[08:46]”, a new VR piece that recreates the events of September 11, 2001 from the point of view of an office worker in the World Trade Center’s North Tower. I can only guess as to the motives behind the creation of “[08:46]”. Whatever they may be, it is ultimately the prerogative of its makers. It’s a free country and, as with so many controversial works of art, if…

Jul 13

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Repetition, Revision and Gaming the Storytelling System

By jordanh | Storytelling | One Comment

Recently, I was up late at night watching Jackass 2. You should know that I consider this to be an important part of my job at VR Playhouse. In one of the film’s stunts, the team had built a full pipe that they were trying to ride using what looked like a tiny, two-stroke pocket bike. The sequence mainly consisted of riders falling, over and over, taking their trademarked joy in their own pain. And then one of them pulled off the trick, riding this toy motorcycle all the way around the loop-dee-loop and, presumably, on to glory. It made me think about one of the more famous moments in skateboarding history. It happened at the 1999 X Games, when legendary skater Tony Hawk landed the first ever 900 in competition. It was a cool moment made exceedingly more dramatic by the way in which it was done. Hawk would fail ten…

Jun 02

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Adventures in VR Storytelling, Part III

By jordanh | Storytelling | No Comments

PART III: SWAG, OR SCIENTIFIC, WILDLY AIMED GUESSES There’s always been a kind of implied power dynamic that exists in visual storytelling, a power that the storyteller is meant to have over his or her audience. And it’s more or less defined by the frame in which the story plays out. Because there’s always a frame. And the existence of that frame means that the storyteller has the ability to locate the components of his or her story in the space that the frame prescribes. He can compose a shot or a moment on stage and he can then juxtapose that with other shots, other moments. However you may or may not interpret the things you see, what, in fact, you are seeing is always up to the storyteller. Except not in VR. With immersive, 360 content, the frame is the entirety of the user’s field of vision which means, at any given moment, they’re creating their own frame…

May 27

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The Great American West in VR

By jordanh | 360 Video | No Comments

There are rare and beautiful places in this country, places filled with an inimitable natural majesty and grandeur, places that people come from all over the world to see and experience. These places are so special, in fact, that they have been set aside and protected as our national parks. Within the boundaries of those parks, the world moves at a different speed, unhindered by the pressures and stresses of modern living. If you’ve ever spent time wandering through one, away from all the lights and sounds and tumult of daily life, you’ll recall the distinct sense of peace and relaxation that washes over you. There is a stillness and a tranquility there that cannot be found anywhere else. VR Playhouse, along with experienced outdoorsman and spherical filmmaker Jay Whittaker, has set out to capture that amazing diversity in a series of short, virtual experiences. Jay has traveled across the…

Apr 16

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Adventures in VR Storytelling, Part II

By jordanh | Storytelling | No Comments

Part II: There Is No Third Person We’ve already discussed the distinct, dreamlike presence one feels inside a VR narrative; that feeling of being intimately present up until a point and then definitively detached. It’s a very special kind of presence and it can potentially lead to some very special kinds of stories. But frankly, the quality of the presence one feels in VR is secondary to the simple fact that you clearly have presence and that this presence is unavoidable. “Clouds Over Sidra” is a virtual reality short film that takes us to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. We meet a young girl who describes for us both the harsh difficulties and small joys inside Sidra as we immerse ourselves in scenes of daily life there; school, soccer games, family dinners. It’s one of the more emotionally arresting VR films to have come out, mainly because of the subject matter (a homesick little girl quietly crying in…

Apr 07

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Adventures in VR Storytelling, Part I

By jordanh | Storytelling | No Comments

The emergence of a new means of narrative happens, on average, about once every twenty-five years or so. This is a very inexact estimation, about as inexact as my definition of “narrative means.” Let’s just say that the means is the way in which a person receives their stories. So, for instance, in the 20th century, there were three big ones that emerged. First, there was film. Then came television. And then came video games. You could maybe also argue that comic books constitutes its own system but there have been serialized adventure stories with illustrations for quite awhile so is that really its own narrative conveyance? You can see what I mean about inexact. But so anyway, the point is that each of these systems came with their own rules and parameters and ways in which they function in partnership with the human brain and it took awhile for everyone to figure it all out. We’re…

Jan 01

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Happy New Year

By jordanh | News | No Comments

WE BUCKLE OUR SEAT BELTS IN ANTICIPATION OF 2015 What we can expect from VR this year: Increased interest in virtual reality worldwide. More people will own HMDs (Head Mounted Displays). Major growth in VR content, which will provide the education on what thrills and what doesn’t inside the headset. Leading platforms will emerge in VR content distribution. In November, a friend said, “What I love about VR is that the community is small. You can know everybody. And the technology moves fast, so the industry is constantly pivoting. Lots of surprises.” This year in VR was like a good house party: big enough to be interesting, small enough to recognize people that, when you do, are people you’re excited to see. But, like a good party, word travels fast and thanks to major investment from big tech companies and the press that follows, it’s blowing up. Time to spike the punch bowl and make some resolutions for 2015 (aka…

Nov 05

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First Person: a series about life’s spontaneous moments

By jordanh | Storytelling | No Comments

First person was born from a desire to experiment with intimacy inside the Rift. Can one feel like he or she is sitting with someone and having a conversation? Will the conversation trigger real emotions? We had the pleasure of working with Mattie Hawkinson as our lead actress, and the Playhouse’s own Ian Forester as the voice of you, the viewer. The style is like Being John Malkovich– you see through his eyes and experience his experience. Each “episode” is like a moment in this guy’s memory bank. There are, as most things in the current 360 video world, many challenges to making it feel as close to real life as possible: It is difficult to stitch either close and/or moving subjects. The camera operator must be hidden. And if you’re shooting from one person’s point of view, that actor must also be out of sight. Our makeshift solution was this:…

Sep 30

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Burning Man or, Successes and Failures Shooting 360° Video at a Crazy Festival in the Desert

By jordanh | 360 Video | No Comments

Exactly one month ago, the Thursday of Burning Man, we brought out the GoPros. We arrived early to set up, been exploring for a week, and decided it was now or never if we were going to attempt to shoot 360 video at the infamous, beloved festival we call “home.” This is the story of how we did it, what went wrong, and luckily, what went right. BURNING MAN 2014. LOCATION: CAMPOLINE, 8:30 & C. We built our usual reflective foam board Hexayurt, this year with solar power so that we could charge the cameras and computer. We brought both of our 6 camera rigs (One is Freedom360, the other 360Heroes), as well as our 360Heroes 10 camera set up. We had 12 GoPro Heros, 2 tripods, one unlucky MacBook Pro, and a bunch of USB chargers. We shot Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It was a particularly dust-filled year, so you can imagine the shooting conditions were less than…

Sep 14

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VRLA #3 | A Breakdown of VR’s Biggest Meet-Up To Date

By jordanh | Festivals Conferences MeetUps | No Comments

The following is a live blog from VRLA#3, the third virtual reality meetup in LA. It was by far the most ambitious meetup to date (basically, a mini conference). The original postings are on the Oculus subreddit. I’ve cleaned the posts up a bit. Initial impressions from VRLA. Tons of people from what appears to be all walks of life, converging in the deep valley of Los Angeles. Many booths set up with people showing off their games, their inventions, and companies. We have an extensive roster of presentations going from 2:30 to 8 PM. Should be very interesting, and hopefully I’ll get a seat. This thing is mobbed. They have been providing free water though, which I think is pretty decent of them, and they seem to have plenty in stock. Like I said, more to come as the day goes on. 1st presentation: Jaunt talks “The Mission”, their…