Today, Oculus is announcing that the groundbreaking virtual reality short film, Lost, is coming to the Samsung Gear VR. Lost originally premiered for the Oculus Rift and was clearly designed with the unique capabilities and limitations of that system in mind. For its debut on the less-powerful Gear VR headset, the project has been repurposed as a 360 video rather than a full, PC-powered, VR experience that allows for robust features like positional tracking.
According to an email from Oculus,
Lost 360, from Oculus Story Studio, is now available on the Oculus Store. This short film brings you along an unexpected encounter in a magical forest. From the director of Pixar’s The Blue Umbrella, Lost 360 is an excellent showcase of narrative storytelling in virtual reality. Lost 360 will be free on the Oculus Store.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8KwbQV-4bA
Minor Spoilers ahead here: Lost is the story of a massive robot stranded in the woods that is missing one giant hand. The narrative focuses mostly on the hand itself as it wanders into a forest clearing in search of its master. You yourself are also occupying that same clearing and you become a subject of interest for both the hand and its gargantuan host.
Lost was the first creation of Oculus Story studios who would later go on to make the Emmy Award winning short VR film Henry. As such it was designed to introduce a user to VR films in general. The film therefore plays with your gaze and sense of depth quite a bit.
Despite the loss of positional tracking as it moves to the Gear VR, Lost 360 should be able to maintain most of the original’s key moments. The Gear is still capable of rendering depth and enabling head tracking. Those two features are really all one needs to enjoy this experience.
You can download Lost 360 on the Oculus Store starting today for free.
