The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) will be taking place later this week and like most modern film festivals SIFF will have it’s own dedicated virtual reality (VR) area, the VR Zone. Being able to showcase immersive VR films to a big audience can be a tricky business which is why SIFF has partnered with Pixvana to use the company’s SPIN Studio platform and a new feature called Auto Play.
The SIFF VR Zone will utilise Pixvana’s new VR Casting technology, making it easy to manage and distribute content from SPIN Studio to multiple VR headsets. The addition of Auto Play aims to make a seamless experience for attendees, automatically starting selected VR programming the moment a viewer puts on a headset. This eliminates the need for the viewer to use the headset remote and mitigates any chance of accidentally exiting from the VR experience.
“We’re abuzz with excitement over the VR Zone at SIFF as it’s the perfect stage for our newest product advancements aimed at delivering a truly unique and streamlined viewer experience,” said Forest Key, Founder and CEO of Pixvana in a statement. “Never has it been easier for film festivals and event coordinators to showcase VR content and ensure audiences are completely immersed in an experience from the moment they put on a headset. As an industry leader, our goal is to continue making VR as simple and convenient as possible to consume by constantly innovating around the playing and viewing experience.”
Content confirmed for the SIFF VR Zone includes: Space Explorers: A New Dawn, The Other Dakar, The Visigoths, Sanctuaries of Silence, Unraveled – The Future of Music with Virtual Reality and 360 Media, Dreaming in Za’atari: Stories After Syria, Aeronaut and many more.
“At SIFF, we strive to deliver a truly cinematic feel across all of the industry’s best immersive creations–and enable viewers from around the world to experience the power of VR by showcasing the boundless qualities of filmmaking in this new medium,” said SIFF Executive Director, Sara Wilke. “Pixvana’s technology helps deliver the highest quality viewing experience for event attendees with simplicity and ease. We are excited to partner with Pixvana to power this unique film experience.”
The SIFF VR Zone will commence 18th May through 10th June, 2018 in the Pacific Place shopping center. Guests will have 90 minutes to explore over two dozen experiences curated from top industry film festivals including Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca Film Festival. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
via Mint VR