New AR/VR Worth Watching This Week: ‘Crow,’ ‘Wonderscope,’ ‘Age of Sail’
Virtual reality (VR) and its sibling augmented reality (AR) both have become exciting outlets for creators looking to immerse their audience into their stories.
And this week, some of the best storytellers in the industry released their latest films for headsets, phones and tablets:
“Crow: The Legend” Baobab Studios’ latest VR film is a star-studded adaptation of a Native American tale that touches on themes of diversity and inclusion. The film’s character cast includes Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Constance Wu and Diego Luna, and its animation style is unlike anything you’ve seen in VR before.
“Crow: The Legend” is now available for free on Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift, and a non-VR version was released on YouTube this week.
And for a behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Crow,” check out our in-depth feature from September.
“Age of Sail” Coming from Google’s Spotlight Stories unit, “Age of Sail” is the story of an old, down on his luck sailor who rescues a young girl from drowning, and in turn gets saved by her. The 12-minute short film has been directed by Oscar-winning animator John Kahrs, who tapped into his own boating experience to bring the stormy seas to VR.
“Age of Sail” was released this week for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive as well as any headset supporting YouTube VR. The film can also be watched on a phone on YouTube, and is available via the Spotlight Stories app for is available via Android and iOS.
Read more about the making of “Age of Sail” in our behind-the-scenes feature.
“Wonderscope” Chris Milk’s immersive media startup Within is breaking new ground for AR storytelling with “Wonderscope,” a new iOS app that tells interactive children’s stories right in your living room. At launch, the app offers access to two AR stories, a “Red Riding Hood” adaptation titled “Little Red the Inventor,” and “A Brief History of Stunts by Astounding People,” a real-life tale of a wing-walking grandma.
The app is available for free for iPhones and iPads, and “Little Red the Inventor” can be unlocked with an in-app payment of $4.99.
For a look behind the scenes, check out our recent feature on “Wonderscope” and AR storytelling.
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