SXSW’s first ever Virtual Cinema tract opened Tuesday at the JW Marriott in Austin, TX. The event features a wide variety of virtual reality experiences that badge and film wristband attendees can access from Tuesday 14 though Thursday 16.

While virtual reality isn’t quite a household name in entertainment, many studios are investing now in the technology and the talent (producers, writers, directors) to create virtual reality entertainment (and augmented reality). I sampled some of the experiences and the equipment including the Sony Playstation VR headset, Oculus Rift, The HTC Vive, and more.

SXSW is once again, ahead of the game by featuring the medium in its own showcase with 38 curated experiences that evoke the entire spectrum of emotional range.

“Chocolate” sponsored by Viacom NEXT

If there was just one SXSW VR that sums up the joy that can be found in technology it would be this short 4 minute VR from Tyler Hurd. I asked Tyler what his main goal was in creating the VR,

“I wanted it to evoke childhood wonder, the joy and awe feeling you get when you look at something shiny.”

His VR lives and breathes in a world of childhood wonder.

The “Chocolate” experience includes you wearing a back pack that contains the bass part of the soundtrack which delivers a full body sound, head phones, and a HTC Vive, plus two hand controllers. When it begins you hold the hand controllers in front of you and they calibrate to ones in the experience. The sound of a house music-like beat surrounds you as you look around in a surreal night sky.

The hand controllers convert to a unique looking devices that have little alien wispy tendrils on top that flow as you wave them around. You get a quick look at yourself before it officially starts and you a colorful alien with multiple long crustacean legs.

As it begins you can see your hand controllers in front of you and you can wave them around; About 1/3 of the way through little kittens will be shooting out of them into the air (yes little kittens!), where they will float like bubbles. As they float down you can interact with them with the controllers and make them change positions and float up some more.

While this is happening with the house music flowing appears large Budha like cats that are smiling… and then the little kittens the shoot up in the air. Does this sound weird yet? Yes, it is weird but at the same time it’s just fun and evokes joy exactly as the creators hoped to achieve, and after all, who doesn’t love Chocolate?

“Behind The Fence” Created by Lindsay Branham

The juxtaposition is “Behind the Fence,” from producer Sally Smith who visits a real world concentration camp of Muslims being held in the mostly Buddhist country of Myanmar. She goes behind the scenes and literally gets into the mud with the suffering people who have been relegated as criminals and denied citizenship. If you know much about Buddhism this is quite shocking.

Sally shared with me that she has traveled all over the world and witnessed many atrocities.

“If only I could bring people with me, they would want to do something about this.”

Using VR in this manner is a way to bring people first hand to places and experiences and her hope is to create awareness. Her film while worthy felt a bit short on explanation but in fairness the situation is political, convoluted, and probably worth a lot more than the seven or so minutes using the Samsung VR. For more info Novofilm.

“Fistful of Stars”

Now this is what VR was created for… a journey into the Orion Nebula, using real photos as a basis for the experience.

Creator New York city native, Eliza McNitt spoke to me that she “wanted to create an environment where you felt like you were floating in the stars.”

This VR experience is similarly set up like the Universal’s “The Mummy” VR (detailed in previous article), where you actually sit in a pod that slowly tilts and turns enhancing the experience while the others were sitting or standing. It begins with a floating view of the Hubble telescope and you slowly spin, taking in the cosmos as narrated by Dr. Mario Livio, senior astrophysicist at the Hubble Telescope Institute (1991-2015). The sound track comes from The Hubble Cantata, a composition featuring a 30 piece ensemble, a 100 person choir, and two stars from the Metropolitan Opera.

McNitt’s shared that her hope is that this will lead to an episodic version and I can’t help but see this as a wonderful tool for teaching students about the cosmos. While this was a unique experience you get the feeling that this technology still has a ways to go but Fistful of Stars is a proof positive of the future of the technology.