Oculus Forms Virtual-reality Film Studio
Facebook's Oculus VR is getting into movies with a studio that will produce virtual-reality films and will show its first short movie at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, the company said.
Tapping talent from both Pixar, Oculus' Story Studio will develop film content for virtual reality.
Facebook bought Oculus last year for $2 billion. So far the business has largely focused on video games for its pioneering wrap-around Rift headset.
But the company is trying to convince film makers emprace the virtual reality technology.
At the annual Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah, part of the event has been dedicated to virtual-reality short movies. Oculus will debut the short film "Lost" at Sundance, which the studio developed over the past six months.
Oculus also hopes to explore VR film experiences in real time, which would allow viewers to interact inside the headset with objects and characters.
For sure, virtual-reality films are still a long way from becoming mainstream as the headsets to display them have yet to reach the mass market. Most curently available VR headsets have been designed to be used with smartphones. And making then run film-quality graphics in real time requires high processing power.
Facebook bought Oculus last year for $2 billion. So far the business has largely focused on video games for its pioneering wrap-around Rift headset.
But the company is trying to convince film makers emprace the virtual reality technology.
At the annual Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah, part of the event has been dedicated to virtual-reality short movies. Oculus will debut the short film "Lost" at Sundance, which the studio developed over the past six months.
Oculus also hopes to explore VR film experiences in real time, which would allow viewers to interact inside the headset with objects and characters.
For sure, virtual-reality films are still a long way from becoming mainstream as the headsets to display them have yet to reach the mass market. Most curently available VR headsets have been designed to be used with smartphones. And making then run film-quality graphics in real time requires high processing power.
