Did you feel that disturbance in the force?
Today, two artists working closely with HammerheadVR have released quite possibly the best look we have seen at what the Star Wars universe might look like in VR. Dubbed simply, Star Wars VR, the experience is a technical demo that shows what may be coming down the road for the Star Wars universe in VR and if this early look is any indication it is a bright future indeed.
The experience, which was shown for the first time at the Develop Conference last week on the Gear VR, takes you through first hand a number of different iconic scenes from the Star Wars film series, including the Battle of Hoth and speeder bike chases through the forests of Endor. The scenes are completely pre-rendered meaning that it is currently a passive experience at the moment, but that could change as the project develops.
Speaking with the project’s technical lead, Richard Tongeman we learned “an interactive version for Oculus Share is not off the table if there’s enough demand but it will depend entirely upon reaching a comfortable framerate for VR headsets. Currently the assets used in the trailer are for designed for pre-rendered VFX and were not intended to be used for real-time VR.”
It is important to note that the project, which was created by two people over two weeks, is fan made and not commercial meaning that we still have yet to receive our first official Star Wars entry in VR – but this looks to be pretty close to that level. Earlier last month Industrial Light and Magic debuted their newest effort, the ILMxLab which is focused on utilizing augmented and virtual reality technology. This project is not part of those efforts but Tongeman says, “we’re massive Star Wars fans and would love the opportunity to collaborate with ILMxLabs,” so the door is potentially open.
We will be sure to follow this story closely as it develops. Right now this tech demo is ahem Impressive… Most impressive… but it is not a real game yet.
