Hacking VR: Six conversations

Six Conversations

In spring 2017, the MIT Open Documentary Lab hosted a series of talks by distinguished VR storytellers to explore how the medium is evolving and what works—or doesn’t. The Lab’s Beyza Boyacioglu and Sue Ding interviewed the following speakers for Immerse:

Eloi Champagne, technical director, NFB Animation Studio

What excites you most about VR? VR is not a communication platform, it’s not cinema, it’s not television, it’s not the Internet— it’s a computing platform. So there are so many possibilities, so many things we can do with it… But right now, in the exploration phase, I think using animation and a game engine are the most powerful way to go. > Watch the interview > Watch his full talk

Brian Chirls, CTO, Datavized

What’s the future of VR? It’s a new medium, so it’s an opportunity to establish new ground rules and a new culture that’s much more open. We can only take advantage of the medium and it can only really achieve the most if we can see people from all kinds of cultures and backgrounds really contribute. We have the tools to do that. It’s just a question of whether or not we make those tools accessible. > Watch the interview > Watch his full talk

Arnaud Colinart, producer and creative director, AGAT Films & Cie

What’s the future of VR? VR is part of a larger movement that we can call “immersive entertainment.” I think its also connected to the rise of TV series—The Walking Dead, Games of Thrones — you don’t want to leave this narrative universe. It’s not only for fiction: You can have this kind of experience with documentaries with a strong universe. > Watch the interview > Watch his full talk

Vicki Ferguson, lead programmer, and Oliver Palmieri, game director, Ubisoft

What does VR mean for documentary? When you are in VR experiences, you’ll remember them as if you were actually there. You’ll have more empathy for somebody that you’ve met than somebody that you’ve just heard of, and the feeling that you’re sharing the same space and maybe making eye contact with that person—it’s really powerful. > Watch the interview > Watch their full talk

Vincent Morriset, director and founder, AATOAA

What excites you most about VR? It’s a medium that puts you in a really interesting mindset. I describe it a bit like ultra lucidity, a way of looking at things similar to when you are traveling, or in a context where you’re looking with bigger eyes. > Watch the interview > Watch his full talk

Karen Vanderborght, creative director, National Film Board

What does VR mean for documentary? 360 and VR will push documentary makers and the documentary medium to really fundamentally rethink values and work methods. The form and how the stories are told are going to change because of the financial partners involved in the projects. I think a lot of documentaries have become too standardized for broadcast TV and hopefully with 360 and VR we are finally going to be able to go away from that. > Watch the interview > Watch her full talk

Banner photo: Michio Morimoto

This interview series is presented by MIT Open Documentary Lab and MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology, and supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

Immerse is an initiative of Tribeca Film Institute, MIT Open DocLab and The Fledgling Fund. Learn more about our vision for the project here.