Our 8 Favorite VR Experiences From the Tribeca Film Festival
VR is really finding its legs as a creative artform. Here are eight innovative virtual-reality experiences from this year's Tribeca Film Festival.
Baobab Studios
Virtual reality may be a babe in the woods, but it’s growing up fast. The trajectory of innovation has been steep in the past year, as constant experimentation has also helped videographers break new ground in editing and storytelling techniques within the realm of VR. It’s no longer enough to just stick a 360-degree camera rig in an interesting place and let the novelty of watching it on a facemask do all the work. At this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, several VR projects premiered as part of the “Experiential Storytelling” showcase at the festival. The groundbreaking Allumette was the biggest highlight of the VR exhibition, but it wasn't the only great project there. Here are some of the other standout experiences, which cast a wide net across genres: from family fare to journalism to graphic novels come alive to psychedelic music videos, and a few things that defy explanation.
Baobab StudiosInvasion!
Narrated by Ethan Hawke, [Baobab Studios](http://www.baobabstudios.com/)’ animated short film is about a bunny (or two… look down!) that saves the world from an alien invasion. It’s cute and funny enough to be appreciated by the whole family, and the ability to look over at your big-eared pal for reaction shots is a fun immersive touch. Its sensibilities were honed in the world of computer animation: Writer/director Eric Darnell was at the helm of four *Madagascar* films, and Baobab CEO Maureen Fan helped produce Oscar-nominated “The Dam Keeper.” *Available this month for HTC Vive, Oculus, and Samsung Gear VR.*
BBC Research & Development/VRTOVThe Turning Forest
[This animated short](http://vrtov.com/projects/turning-forest/) co-produced by BBC Research & Development and VRTOV is beautiful to look at, and is another all-ages experience. You find yourself in a forest during autumn, where the falling auburn leaves create a world you just want to chill out in. It’s beautiful to listen to as well, thanks to the 3-D audio of rustling leaves and a few surprises: If you're a fan of Falkor from *The Neverending Story*, let's just say you're in for a wild ride. *Availability: Coming soon, according to the project creators.*
Notes on BlindnessNotes on Blindness
Using audio recordings from the late professor and author [John M. Hull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Hull), who narrated his own deteriorating vision on a series of cassette tapes, this immersive experience simulates what it feels like to go blind. Your surroundings begin as ill-defined blobs of light, as the narrator slowly pieces together what’s going on around him based on audio cues. The multi-chapter experience, with each chapter representing different locations from parks to churches, manages to be chilling, disorienting, mesmerizing, and relaxing at the same time. *Available June 30 on Gear VR and Google Cardboard.*
The ArkThe Ark
When production on *[The Ark](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jongsmaoneill/the-ark-a-vr-film-about-the-worlds-most-endangered)* started, there were four northern white rhinos on Earth. Now there are only three. This documentary allows viewers to get up close to the last surviving members of a critically endangered species, inventing a revolutionary new use case for VR in the process: The ability to revisit things that may not be around for much longer. That’s not the only fascinating aspect of the experience, as filmmakers Eline Jongsma and Kel O’Neill employ an innovative 180-degree wipe effect to guide the viewer from scene to scene. *Multi-platform release slated for late summer/early fall.*
New York Times’ VR StudioSeeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart
The latest piece from the *New York Times*’ VR studios puts you billions of miles away from Earth, on the [ice-encrusted plains of Pluto](https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/seeking-plutos-frigid-heart-2016), flanked by mountain ranges and jagged terrain. Whether you want to call it a planet or not, it’s a place humans have never visited—and likely never will outside of VR. Pluto’s frigid landscape was reconstructed using images and data taken from the New Horizons flyby last year. In a few weeks, the *Times* plans to ship out 300,000 Google Cardboard headsets in conjunction with the experience’s launch on its app for iOS and Android. *Available May 19 on the NYT VR app and YouTube 360.*
The Guardian6x9
Forget a yearslong sentence: even nine minutes in a virtual solitary-confinement cell is disturbing. As you peer around the claustrophobic confines of a brick-walled, six-foot-by-nine-foot cell, courtesy of [this documentary piece from *The Guardian*](http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2016/apr/27/6x9-a-virtual-experience-of-solitary-confinement), you’ll hear voice-over accounts from prisoners who’ve experienced the real deal for months. You’ll also witness some of the hallucinatory experiences they’ve encountered. *Available now on the Guardian VR app for [iOS](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/guardian-vr/id1099086012?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4) and [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.guardian.vr).*
SENS VRS.E.N.S. VR
Based on a graphic novel from French cartoonist Marc-Antoine Mathieu, *[S.E.N.S. VR](http://creative.arte.tv/fr/article/sens)* gets you lost in the barren landscapes, narrow hallways, and snowy dunes of a mysterious monochrome world where your only company is your shadow. Your mission is to follow the arrows—which are everywhere, making your real mission to contemplate the mirage of free will. The stark white, black, and gray surroundings are eerie and elegant, helping make *S.E.N.S.* a unique VR labyrinth. *Available mid-September for Oculus, Gear VR, and Cardboard.*
Old FriendOld Friend
This might be the future of music videos, or it might just be a solo dance party. [Old Friend](http://blog.wevr.com/tyler-hurd-wevr-122) starts with a bandleader marching into view, and soon you're surrounded by a bunch of multicolored dancing weirdos under a psychedelic sky, shaking their rumps to high-octane music. Whenever you look one of them in the eyes, they gaze back at you with a manic expression that will haunt your dreams---in a good way, though. Better yet, if you watch Old Friend while holding motion controllers, you can join the dance party with your big ol’ noodle arms. Bust a move, kid. *Availability TBD.*
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Tim Moynihan covers hardware for Gadget Lab, with a concentration on cameras, TVs, Ultra HD video, virtual reality, and the weirdest things he can find. He has 17 years of tech journalism experience, serving as senior editor at PCWorld, homepage editor at CNET, and an online producer at TechTV prior ... Read More
