Though VR is really only just now taking a firm hold in its various markets, virtual reality has been a concept flirted with for many years in our favorite science fiction books, movies, and television series. Rishi Kaneria, a filmmaker and video essayist, has taken to the 360-degree video format to create a visual essay on VR in the film industry. From classic films such as Total Recall to the Matrix trilogy, Kaneria takes us on a journey through more than 40 years of filmmaking:
- World on a Wire (1973)
- Tron (1982)
- Brainstorm (1983)
- Total Recall (1990)
- The Lawnmower Man (1992)
- Mindwarp (1992)
- Disclosure (1994)
- Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
- Virtuosity (1995)
- Hackers (1995)
- Strange Days (1995)
- Lawnmower Man 2 (1996)
- Nirvana (1997)
- Darkdrive (1998)
- eXistenZ (1999)
- The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2003)
- The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
- Avalon (2001)
- Surrogates (2009)
- Inception (2010)
- Tron Legacy (2010)
- Source Code (2011)
- Total Recall (2012)
- The Congress (2013)
In the 360-degree video, each film pops up in chronological order with a large collection of scenes from each film dispersed around you. Many of the films take a direct approach to virtual reality, placing their protagonists under a headset of some kind. Others, like Inception’s journey into the world of dreams, have a more abstract approach but they all thrive off the essence of virtual spaces.
In the near future, we’ll have a few more films to add to this collection. Ready Player One, a popular 2011 novel by Ernest Cline, has a film adaptation on the way directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg. The science fiction story features a virtual universe called OASIS that players access with goggles and haptic gloves. Also, later this year we will also see a film adaptation of the Assassin’s Creed game franchise. The film’s plot involves a company that has developed a means, called the Animus Project, to virtually dive into the memories of a person’s ancestors. The first film will be diving into the Spanish Inquisition, is directed by Justin Kurzel, and features Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons.
