20th Century Fox recently announced a plan to release VR version of their movies via Oculus Rift, roughly 100 titles during Oculus Connect event. Right now, it is known as Oculus Video.
With the VR set on, viewers will have an immersive experience – 360 degrees in any direction on the movie of their choice. Sounds pretty rad when you could watch Star Wars or Aliens with the contraption on. The company said that 100 titles would be available for rent or purchase and users can decide to watch the movie on a simulated TV screen or simulated cinema screen.
“VR cinema is a new way of presenting our movies, and has the opportunity to bring in mass market consumers to virtual reality,” Mike Dunn, president of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, said in a statement. “With Oculus Video, we are leveraging the scale and flexibility of mobile, while continuing to deliver a powerful, emotional experience for consumers.We are just scratching the surface of how Hollywood and VR will revolutionize entertainment by exploring innovative ways to develop immersive experiences as a new storytelling medium.”
There is no list of which movies will be available for Oculus Video yet but rumours are saying movies like Kingsmen: The Secret Service, Birdman, Alien, Die Hard and Cast Away will be in the first wave. Besides Fox, Lionsgate Entertainment also wants to get into the game with offerings like Pulp Fiction or The Hunger Games series. For now, viewers can enjoy the movies using existing VR gadgets like the Samsung Gear VR for example.
While VR entertainment still seems far away, reality is the industry is expecting it would be the next thing in entertainment technology as various full scale VR models are set to appear next year – Sony’s PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift are two big names so far. Don’t be surprised if movie directors might go for special camera technology to capture 360 degree footage that will let viewers be completely immersed in the story that they are trying to tell very soon.
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