Virtual reality (VR) is the rage in the tech industry this year. There was a lot of talk about it at the New York Media Festival this year and we even got to try out some of the latest VR technology for ourselves in the exhibits. But we recently heard some interesting news about Lucasfilm and Industrial Light and Magic. As part of this year’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects arm of Star Wars studio Lucasfilm, announced that it will give a talk at the Virtual Reality Developers Conference. The event takes place on March 14 and we should know more specifics after that. But for now, there are some hints that VR might be coming to Star Wars.
They don’t directly name Star Wars but there’s a good chance this is the franchise being implied here:
“At VRDC, Lucasfilm Industrial Light and Magic will describe bringing Cinematic Virtual Reality to one of the most iconic movie franchises of all time in their session titled the session, ‘Immersive Cinema: Stories from the experiments underway at Lucasfilm’s Lucasfilm Industrial Light and Magic,’” a press release from Industrial Light and Magic noted. “Bringing Cinematic Virtual Reality to life requires the kind of tight collaboration between technical and creative forces that Lucasfilm has thrived on for over 40 years. In this session, attendees will hear from artists and engineers from Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker Sound, and Lucasfilm itself who will show a rare look into the creative and technical experiments underway at the studio.”
So what do you think? Would you like to see a merger between the ever-growing VR industry and the powerhouse that is the Star Wars franchise? How might this change future movies that are released? Games?
