Disney Pixar Announces First Ever Virtual Reality Project – Coco VR
Along with its latest animated film Coco, Disney Pixar has revealed Coco VR, to let their fans experience the next level of social virtual reality.
Coco VR has been announced at Facebook’s Oculus Connect Event and it is shared that the experience is available for free today on the Oculus Rift. It will be coming to Gear VR after the film premiere, on 22nd November.
One of Coco’s themes is Dia De Los Muertos, which is known as a Mexican Holiday, which honors the dead. This is why the VR experience is centered on fun skeletons as well as on Mexican music and artistry.
Coco VR isn’t a project created for gaming purposes. It’s more like a thrilling ‘social adventure’ which can be experienced with friends.
Marc Sondheimer, a Pixar producer said:
It’s an opportunity to step inside a Pixar film and go on an adventure with a friend,
We wanted to teach people a little about the film […] learn about the holiday, the festival, and the traditions.
Since Pixar producers have created this project for fun, believing the importance of sharing it with someone else, Pixar suggests its fans to explore Coco VR’s amazing art and social fun with their friends – up to 4 people.
Yelena Rachitsky, Oculus executive producer shared in a blog post:
Going to the theater is a semi-social experience — you watch a film together, but it’s passive,
In VR, you can actually go on an adventure with a friend. These experiences can create lasting memories, just like going on a trip together. But unlike a journey in real life, VR lets you explore the gorgeous world of Coco, full of unique Easter eggs that sprinkle a bit of magic at every turn.
The fantastic experience starts with meeting Miguel, the star of the movie. He describes Dia De Los Muertos and afterwards, VR fans see themselves, who are animated skeletons in front of the mirror, ready to explore the Land of the Dead.
Allowing users to customize their own “skeletor”, Coco VR offers various outfits, accessories and so on.
From there, skeleton friends find themselves in a kind of town square to experience different social activities such as visiting an art gallery, going to the cinema, riding on a gondola, and taking a selfie, together.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Marc Sondheimer, Coco VR producer and Academy Award winner said:
We wanted to allow audiences to go on their own adventure in that space. It’s like what it feels like to go into a Pixar set or environment. We are very exhaustive in creating believable worlds.
Even though they are imaginary, we want them to be believable and researched and true. It has a loose story that you can experience from beginning to end in about 20 minutes. You get to have different perspectives on this art work only in a VR experience.
Here is the trailer:
If you have already loved the art used in Pixar’s previous movies such as Toy Story 3, we believe that you don’t want to miss this amazing VR experience, becoming a skeletal character which is so rare, at least while you’re still alive.
