At the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier Exhibitions, I flew like a bird, watched giant monsters fight, and met Reese Witherspoon in the woods.
Danfung Dennis
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival's New Frontier Exhibitions, which showcases experimental art installations, is heavily focused on virtual reality this year, particularly Oculus Rift technology.
At Friday morning's press preview, I had a chance to try out several of the installations, which fulfilled a childhood dream of mine. For as long as I can remember, I've been drawn to the concept of virtual reality — perhaps because I found actual reality to be mostly disappointing. My early attempts at trying out VR were lacking, to say the least, seeing as the technology just wasn't there yet. And if it was, it wasn't anywhere I could access it.
But at Sundance, I finally was able to experience cutting-edge VR. The projects at New Frontier vary wildly in terms of tone and effect, but combined, they provided an entirely new perspective on virtual reality — both in terms of how far it has come, and what the future might bring.
Here's a breakdown of the VR pieces at New Frontier 2015, in the order I experienced them.
Wild — The Experience
Felix Paul Studios
Lead artists: Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël
I will probably never hike the Pacific Crest Trail. (OK, I will definitely never hike the Pacific Crest Trail.) But I loved Wild , and I was excited to get a small taste of Cheryl Strayed's experience.
I sat on a log and put on an Oculus Rift headset — for the very first time — and immediately found myself among the trees. Logically, I knew that I could look in all directions, but that took some getting used to. I watched Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) sit down next to me, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the tiniest bit starstruck. Then, I heard a voice, and shifted my body in its direction until I was face to face with Cheryl's mother Bobbi (Laura Dern). After having seen the film, I was genuinely moved sitting between them. It made me think about the way this technology can supplement film instead of replacing it. It doesn't take anything away from Wild, but instead offers viewers another, more intimate perspective that heightens the experience of the original film.
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