We’ve seen plenty of interesting ideas on how to bring comic books into VR, but Mixed Reality Comics (M.R. Comics) is probably one of the most ambitious.
M.R. Comics is actually an extension of another app from developer V.A.R. Studios named Diorama Worlds. Released in Early Access last April, the experience lets users assemble their own scenes in VR using pre-existing assets. Creators can then share these worlds online, allowing Oculus Rift and HTC Vive owners to inspect them in great detail, either as a giant peering over them or shrinking all the way down to human scale.
Building on that foundation, developer Levi Leavitt recently introduced M.R. Comics with the above trailer. Simply put, it allows you to build stories inside Diorama Worlds with sequential progression from one scene to another with speech bubbles providing voices.
Traditionally, VR comics have immersed readers in a 360 degree environment whilst still presenting flat panels, perhaps with added parrallax support or interactivity. M.R. Comics allows people to build out fully 3D images. Imagine reading a Spider-Man comic but, instead of seeing a flat image of Peter Parker web-swinging through New York, it was a full 3D scene that you could explore to your heart’s content.
V.A.R. Studios is currently accepting submissions for testers to build the first VR comics inside Diorama Worlds. There are plans to grow the platform out across other VR headsets and mixed reality devices in the weeks and months to come, too.
Comics might not seem like a natural fit for VR, though ideas such as this prove they may yet find a space in this growing industry. Now it just remains to be seen how far DC and Marvel are willing to go to embrace the tech. Diorama Worlds, meanwhile, is available on Steam for $7.99.
