A Brave New World

I am taking a slow walk into the metaverse and am discovering patterns that are indicating the shape of things to come. One of the things that both intrigued me and made me fearful is to have VR theaters already implementing the Oculus, a VR platform put forward by Facebook. Even though it was only proclaimed that the future of Facebook was going to be this thing called the metaverse, it has lingered on Marc’s Zuckerberg’s chalkboard for quite a while.

?These experiences in theaters can be communal and offer a myriad of programming choices. Right now, the offering is a bit awkward, but you can see the path they are heading towards. The problem now is that we are twinning the exhibition of motion pictures to Moore’s Law. The observation is named after Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel who in 1965 observed that the number of components per integrated circuit doubled every two years, and projected this rate of growth would continue for at least another decade. This “law” was later applied to computing power available to the consumer. In the case of the Oculus it is fairly predictable the computing and graphic power will double every two years. This should be the cause of some concern where virtual communities might have the ability to gather to watch a movie. The platform BEEM now is experimenting with the concepts of communal viewing.

?Another thing I have been considering is the impact of these 85 inch television screens. Right now these screens cost on average $1400 dollars and are entering the mass market. I have a 55 inch screen in my family room and am plenty happy with that. The thought I had is that when you place an 85 inch screen in your home you are equal to the same screen ratio for viewing as a 35 foot screen in most theaters. That being said, apply Moore’s Law to televisions, then while a 4K screen can sell for $1400 this year, it probably means an 8K screen will sell for the same amount two years from now.? Epson sells a 110 inch screen for $6K and Sony sells a 220 inch screen for $606K.? There are discussions that in the very near future newly built homes will have one wall in your home that is basically a giant screen. There were experiments using laser injected boards woven with fiber optics but that path was put aside in favor of LED technology.

As technologies are implemented on a more rapid scale, the projector of the future will begin to look like a higher end PC. Processing speeds and graphic overlays will have to be implemented on the projection booth. What is interesting is that the faster processor speeds might for the first time really have a technology set that can combat movie piracy.

?On the production side, the back of digital trickery is widening with digital re-creation of Princess Leia even though the actor who played the role, Carrie Fisher sadly passed away. Movies like “The Irishman” did away with lengthy make-up in favor of digital aging and the converse, digital de-aging. Technologies born of video gaming are being implemented in order to emulate performance on behalf of a character previously played by a live human being.

?Immersive entertainment is defined as any interface or platform that pulls it’s audience into a constructed world, enabling them to manipulate and interact with their newly found environment in a variety of dynamic ways. Immersive experiences, a derived set of technologies that evolved from movie going uses a mixture of visual technology, audio, dynamic interaction with the audience, and other tools to provide an interactive experience for the viewer.

?What is almost crucial to me is that the rise of COVID has resulted in more people looking for immersive entertainment experiences at home, and in 2020, consumers worldwide spent $9.9 billion on AR and VR. During the same period, just $7 billion was spent on going to movie theaters. The data firm Statista predicts that the global immersive media market will grow to almost $300 billion by 2024.

?There was a time in my movie going youth when technologies like Smell O Vision and Imax were the crowning achievement of immersive entertainment. 3D was also heralded as a deep game changer for moviegoing. Now in a few short years these technologies are now considered game-changers at their inception, are now thought to be pretty basic and some in the case of 3D have probably fallen by the wayside forever. Smell O Vision, last used during John Water’s ”Polyester” is also probably long gone.

?Storytelling is the fundamental element of immersive entertainment, but it owes more to the style of storytelling coming out of video gaming than motion pictures. It is not surprising that Disney owned Lucasfilm is leading the way through their ILMxLAB, an immersive entertainment studio.

?ILMxLAB is known for a wide variety of immersive entertainment projects including Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, Avengers: Damage Control, the award-winning Vader Immortal series, and CARNE y ARENA, the Oscar-winning VR installation directed by Alejandro G. I?árritu Director? of “The Revenant” and “Birdman”.

Here is the trailer of CARNE Y ARENA CARNE y ARENA (Virtually present, Physically invisible) - Trailer - YouTube which gives some fascinating insights into what is coming.

?Lucasfilm is focusing on buttressing the Disney+ streaming platform and innovating in immersive entertainment. Disney is about to release Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge which will give the audience the chance to live their own adventure and explore a new part of the Star Wars Universe in virtual reality. The original story will feature both new and iconic characters from the Star Wars Universe with game play and? interaction for the audience.??

Primarily taking place between Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on the planet of Batuu, the adventure is set on the rim of Black Spire Outpost of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which is by the way an attraction at both Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

?Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a brave New World.