An innovative online entertainment service, iQIYI, has shared its Luoyang virtual reality (VR) project in Shanghai. This claims to be the industry’s first-ever all-immersive entertainment experience incorporating VR technology, original IP-based plot lines, and immersive theatre.
The Luoyang VR project opens with an immersive theatre experience and then a 50-minute VR-powered journey. During this time, participants will take a trip back 1,300 years to the ancient city of Luoyang. The experience aims to break conceptual bounds between the virtual world and physical reality, granting users a unique experience.
While we have already seen transmedia projects such as bringing the world of video games to TV with the likes of HBO‘s The Last of Us, this project marks an attempt at mixing the world of VR with various other elements. The set construction, for example, makes full use of and expands upon the real-world physical space while customising the wall and ground structures according to game content.
Blending worlds
The project also uses ‘inside-out tracking’ technology and other industry-leading sensory-simulation techniques to build cars, boats, carriages, and other props. Luoyang also aims to simulate the physical experience of high winds, waterfalls, and explosions, all within a physical space of 200 square metres. The goal is to create a highly realistic environment that immerses the audience in the story.
Vice president of iQIYI and head of iQIYI DREAMVERSE studio, Zhang Hang said, “The Luoyang VR Project marks a step-up from a purely VR experience, as we’ve integrated real-life scenes such as costume-changing and live performance; VR transports users into another universe, allowing them to become the character shaping the story throughout the journey in the city Luoyang, for an all-immersive entertainment experience.”
The project will mark the latest addition to iQIYI Chinese Historic City Universe of Luoyang, which consists of 12 distinct entertainment projects, all inspired by the popular Luoyang IP. The augmented and virtual reality market could be worth $8.2 billion by 2028, projects like this one, where we see different forms of media blur together, are likely to become more popular in the future.
Paige Cook is a writer with a multi-media background. She has experience covering video games and technology and also has freelance experience in video editing, graphic design, and photography. Paige is a massive fan of the movie industry and loves a good TV show, if she is not watching something interesting then she's probably playing video games or buried in a good book. Her latest addiction is virtual photography and currently spends far too much time taking pretty pictures in games rather than actually finishing them.
