Dear Virtual Reality
Application name and platform
I watched the animated short “Dear Lizzy” which I found the the app Within on my iPhone. I used my google cardboard to view it. It was created by Within and a creator called FiveHundred.
https://www.with.in/get-the-app
Description
The opening scene is girl in her room. It is animated, so it give a cartoon feel, which is very interesting to view in VR. I enjoyed looking around me to see a normal girls room, but in a style very different than reality. Then the users slowly moves in a straight line out the window of the room, and along a path that has many random, colorful things along it. A woman reads a letter written to her friend for the whole duration of the video. It is a very thought provoking and meaningful letter, and with all the odd things around you, it forces you to think about how it all connects .It then takes me to completely different scenes like a jungle, under water, and in space. The whole time the original girl can be found waslking around the different places I am taken to.
Audience
I think this experience is made for people who want to be completely immersed inside of a completely different reality. Someone who loves weird and colorful things. With the letter that is being read, I think it was also made for someone who likes thought provoking things. I think it is succesful in serving its audience because the whole time I felt completely immersed and interested in what was going on around me. It was a fun and interesting experience, and I think others, who are like me, who experience this would think the same.
XR Implementation
This is a VR experience that is 3DOF. The experience moves you forward itself, so it doesn’t have to be 6DOF and make you walk around yourself. This application takes advatange of using 3DOF VR by having exciting things to look at at any angle you look. Above, below, infront or behind you, there is something worth looking at.
Supporting Technologies
This application just uses head tracking to know when your moving your head and what to show you. This is very important so you can look around and get the whole experience.
Strengths
The visuals on this application were spectacular and so interesting to look at. It really felt like a unique virtual reality to be immersed in. There was also so much to look at that it never got boring. Also the way that you moved through the scenes made an interesting story line.
Improvement
I feel like this is the case with a lot of VR, but it felt like it just moved too quickly. There was enough to look at that I didn't get bored, but I also feel like I missed out on looking at some of the visuals. Also, I felt like I could not fully pay attention to what the speaker was saying while I was looking at everything around me. I seem to have that problem a lot with VR though so maybe that is just me.
S.L.A.M. and Tracking
This VR experience didn’t use either of these things because the user does not interact with the environment at all. This is just basically a 3D video that the user is in the center of, and they can only look around.
