ASTEROIDS!, Life of Us, and Heroes to debut in Park City
Unity Technologies, whose platform is used to create digital experiences across 2D, 3D, VR and AR, today revealed Made With Unity virtual and augmented reality experiences make up more than half of the lineup of VR interactive experiences selected for the New Frontier program at Sundance Film Festival. These include ASTEROIDS! by Baobab Studios, Life of Us, a Within original in association with Annapurna, and Heroes by Melissa Painter to name a few.
“Unity has always been laser-focused on providing the best tools and technologies for creators who push the boundaries of art across emerging industries and mediums like virtual reality. This year’s crop of Made With Unity experiences on display at the Sundance Film Festival are no exception,” said Clive Downie, Chief Marketing Officer at Unity Technologies. “Whether pioneering immersive storytelling or merging CG with everyday surroundings, the brightest minds choose Unity and we’re happy to play a part in bringing their visions to life.”
Within co-founders and early digital storytelling pioneers Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin’s portfolio includes content for The New York Times, Vice Media, NBC, and the United Nations. At the Festival, they’ll introduce Life of Us, a shared VR journey that takes people through the complete story of evolution of life on earth, set to new music by Pharrell Williams.
Following the award-winning animated VR story INVASION!, ASTEROIDS! finds charming alien duo Mac and Cheez on a new adventure –- and the viewer in the middle of the action. From the team at Baobab Studios, lead by the director of the Madagascar films, Eric Darnell, ASTEROIDS! features voice talent from Elizabeth Banks and will launch across all major VR platforms when it becomes available later this year. Baobab utilized Unity for this second feature, capitalizing on the platform’s fidelity and extensibility.
“With ASTEROIDS! we want viewers to feel both physically and emotionally part of the story and Unity helps us achieve that vision. The engine renders expressive characters and eye-catching environments that draw you right in, but ASTEROIDS! is told with more than just sight,” said Larry Cutler, Chief Technical Officer at Baobab Studios. “Unity’s Timeline feature lets us intuitively orchestrate sounds, music cues, particle effects, and animations, so we can focus on what matters most: the story.”
Another selection, Heroes, sees collaborators from all walks making the jump to a new mixed medium blending virtual, augmented and real-world entertainment that hints at the future of cinematics and theater.
“We have run a diverse and far flung team on this project, all creating in a very new territory, and all confronting kinds of media assets and work flows outside their comfort zone,” said Melissa Painter, Director for Heroes. “Across this experience Unity has been a shared language; it draws experimenters, people who want to continually learn, and who are game to promote the wisdom of the group, and collectively elevate the future of entertainment.”
Heroes, set to David Bowie’s iconic track is a mixed reality experience across film, AR, and VR that explores how emergent storytelling can help visualize the abstraction of movement, bodies, and the space between. Utilizing Microsoft Hololens and Oculus Gear headsets, viewers can observe and interact with dancers from the renowned Helios Dance Theater, manipulate their environment and even “hold” them in hand.
Additional made with Unity experiences premiering include Chocolate from Tyler Hurd and Hue by Nicole McDonald, among many others.
About Unity Technologies
Unity Technologies is the creator of a flexible and high-performance end-to-end development platform used to create rich interactive 2D, 3D, VR and AR experiences. Unity's powerful graphics engine and full-featured editor serve as the foundation to develop beautiful games or apps and easily bring them to multiple platforms: mobile devices, home entertainment systems, personal computers, and embedded systems. Unity also offers solutions and services for creating games, boosting productivity, and connecting with audiences including Unity Ads, Unity Analytics, Unity Asset Store, Unity Cloud Build, Unity Collaborate, Unity Connect and Unity Certification. Unity Technologies serves large publishers, indie studios, students and hobbyists around the globe. For more information, visit:https://unity3d.com to see the latest games and experience created in Unity, go to: https://madewith.unity.com.
