For many users, trying to enjoy virtual reality (VR) content is not a seamless experience. Depending on if you want to enjoy, there are a bewildering array of apps and storefronts to navigate to find the desired content. WebVR tries to change that by offering VR content with only a web browser. Now filmmaking company WITHIN have launched a new WebVR-powered site for users to explore.
WITHIN has launched a new website which acts as a distribution platform for showcasing the best VR content with high production values.
WITHIN are attempting to offer curated and original VR experiences directly for users for free. By using the new site, WITHIN hopes to make VR content available for everyone, regardless of if they are using a laptop, smartphone or VR headset.
“Film is this incredible medium. It allows us to feel empathy for people that are very different from us, in worlds completely foreign to our own,” said Chris Milk, co-founder of WITHIN, in a Ted Talk. “I started thinking, is there a way I could use modern and developing technologies to tell stories in different ways, and tell different kinds of stories that maybe I couldn’t tell using the traditional tools of filmmaking that we’ve been using for 100 years?”
The company has worked with high-profile partners such as the band OK Go and Tyler Hurd to produce immersive VR experiences. WITHIN also distribute VR content such as family-friendly animation and nature shows using 360-degree visuals and stereoscopic sound.
“We aim to make it as easy as possible for fans to discover and share truly great VR experiences,” said Jon Rittenberg, Content Launch Manager at WITHIN.
The use of the WebVR API let WITHIN present a consistent experience to users regardless of how they are accessing the content and optimise the experiences to various platforms and VR displays.
“The API really helped us out. It gave us all the pieces we needed,” said Jono Brandel, Lead Designer at WITHIN. “Without the WebVR API, we could not have done any of this stuff in the browser. We wouldn’t have access to VR headsets.”
Further information can be found on the Mozilla blog, and filmmakers can submit their work for consideration through the WITHIN website. Future coverage of WebVR will be here on VRFocus.
via Mint VR