Part of the official selection at Sundance Film Festival New Frontier and Tribeca Film Festival Immersive 2017, and then going on to be one of the first grant recipients in HTC Vive’s ‘VR for Impact’ programme, critically acclaimed virtual reality (VR) experience Tree has now been made available through Viveport this week.
Highlighting the harrowing realities of tropical deforestation, New Reality Company’s Tree puts you into the Amazon from the point of view of a kapok tree. You will then grow from a seedling to a mature tree soaring above the canopy line, your arms and body morphing into branches and trunk.
“The magic with virtual reality is that it has the power create empathy and awareness around humankind’s most pressing problems in new immersive ways,” said Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport in a statement. “New Reality’s Tree is a moving and illuminating experience that serves as an example of how we can use the immersive nature of virtual reality to shine a light on critical issues.”
Shown at World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos last week, Viveport has pledged to donate funds from the first 1,000 purchases of Tree to the Rainforest Alliance to support its vital conservation work.
“Virtual reality’s greatest capability is to tell powerful stories,” said Milica Zec, co-founder of New Reality. “Tree has been able to connect with viewers in an intimate way that has made climate change personal to them. We can’t wait for people at home to finally be able to experience this project for the first time,” said Winslow Porter, co-founder of New Reality.
Tree is available to both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift users for $4.99 USD. The VR experience is also available to download via Viveport Subscription, members can now choose the title as one of their five monthly picks.
HTC and WEF announced that in collaboration with a core group of VR/AR leaders and the UN, they will help drive the VR/AR for Impact initiative going forward, and as they do so VRFocus will keep you updated.
via Mint VR