Everest VR

Oculus Rift Experience

Company
Sólfar

Software
Unreal Engine

Timing
30-40 minutes of storytelling, afterwards, exploration as you wish

Narration
The main narration is a man who explains about Mount Everest and trekking the trail. There are 5 chapters of which, each time, you have a cinema (that expands to a large scenography) where you fly over the locations, seeing the hikers on that stretch of the trek. The narrator tells the story about these parts, a bit of history and what is to come. The story is well written, both engaging and informative, the visuals (you fly over the area in a slow motion) are compelling but allow you to perceive the information without distraction. Each time you are brought down to experience these locations, there is no narration, but instead you hear yourself, the others in the trek and the sherpas who talk to you or carry conversations with each other (that you overhear) as you explore or finish a task.

At the top of the mountain, when you reach the peak, a woman’s voice comes over and she reads an emotional poem about the hike, you see time pass, going from day to night. It was very emotional and well done to emphasise the climatic achievement.

Subtitles
Each time you arrive at a new location, there is a black screen with 2d flat white text of the name and the height.

UI Training
What’s very interesting is the training platform to learn how to move and navigate in this experience. You are standing on a matrix of the Himalayans in micro-scale, and 2d text instructions hang above. The instructions include icon images of what to press (buttons on the controller) to do an action. When you do the correct movement with the controller, it makes a sound and the next instruction set appears. This is important to ensure that the person doing the experience knows how to move about and avoids frustration later.

Story Arch
Step into a first-person, photo-realistic experience like no other, as you join an expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Developed Sólfar and RVX – the Nordics’ leading visual effects house – EVEREST VR is designed from the ground up for virtual reality. Key Features: Experience Everest in 5 iconic scenes. Prepare for your expedition at Basecamp, traverse the terrifying Khumbu Icefalls, scale the vertiginous Lhotse Face to overnight at Camp 4, ascend the perilous Hillary Step, and finally conquer the summit of Everest. Enter God Mode to reach a unique vantage point of the Himalayas only possible in VR. Towering over the mountain range, this is a stunning VR diorama where you can survey the mountain at human size or at 1500x scale. Follow the path of 18 historical expeditions. EVEREST VR is a powerful first introduction to VR, designed not as a conventional game but as an accessible experience that focuses on the strengths of VR to transport you to impossible locations.

Cinematography
Done with Unreal Engine at the highest quality. The mountains look real and the use of snow, blurred vision is done incredibly well. The sherpas are also done with great effort, so you really feel immersed. At times I was guessing wether it was real footage or CGI.

Framing
They were all very full shots. The GOD mode allowed you to play with scale and explore the mountains at different heights.

Learning Information
In the GOD mode, you could jump to picture icons and when you pressed them, 4 virtual cards would appear around you with images and text about historical details and an anecdote. After experiencing the trek (making it to the top) and emotionally investing yourself in the art of trekking this mountain and the steps taken, you can explore on your own in GOD mode. It was very effective to have the anecdotes told here because you are invested in the story (emotionally) and want to explore, learn more and read historical facts. If I experienced the “GOD mode” before I experienced the story, I would not have appreciated this informative bit.

Color Palette
Full colour.

Composition
It was mostly full scenography, just like it would be in the real space.

Point of View
The user is an explorer on the trek. You have mittens on which you see, but no body. The other people acknowledge you and you physically move in space, which is quite demanding at times, like the completion of a trek.

Looking Around
The user can deeply interact with the scene moving in a real space to explore all the parts of the scene. You can also pick up items and interact with the props which is really immersive. The physicality of climbing also helps. At times, you reach a summit and can look around to enjoy the view which is really nice. You are placed on the trek, so you really look around as you would in reality. The GOD mode is an interesting perspective,  with great CGI exploration, where instead of moving in space, you hop from one location to the next, very much like Google Maps. When you were close to new items, icons appeared for you to explore it further. You didn’t see these icons unless you were relatively close to the objects, so you could potentially miss a lot of the story without exploring the nooks and crannies.

Storytelling
The experience is linear (but you can jump to different chapters at any time) and in GOD MODE you explore and see things you want to, in the order you want. It’s nice for the freedom and also easy to leave. This switch from preferred linear to non-linear is very effective.

Sound
Sound is incredibly well mapped. There is 3D surround sound, soundtrack for the narration bits, and when you are hiking, you hear your breathing, the sounds of sherpas chatting on the radio and the wind and elements. This project had the most immersive sound experience because of the POV of your character (the huffing and breathing) which by itself (and no visuals) is a compelling story already.