Ninja Theory Ltd. has today released their first virtual reality (VR) scene in order to demonstrate the potential of Virtual Human technology in VR. The scene, based on the studio’s upcoming videogame, is available to view as a stereoscopic 360° video on YouTube, Facebook and through Oculus VR head-mounted displays (HMDs).
At the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, back in March, Ninja Theory showcased a virtual human demonstration in partnership with Epic Games, Cubic Motion & 3Lateral. Showcased using a scene from Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, the studio presented a live performance by an actress on stage and rendered in the videogame world in real-time. The studio has today released the same scene in VR.
“We tested the scene in VR and found that people reacted very strongly to seeing someone they perceive as human”, said Tameem Antoniades, Chief Creative Ninja at Ninja Theory, “Our belief is that real-time virtual human technology will profoundly shape future VR experiences for games, movies and beyond.”
Wil Driver, CTO at Ninja Theory added, “In VR, you expect characters to acknowledge your presence in meaningful and natural ways and respond to your actions. In the real-time version of the scene, Senua tracks and follows your eyes procedurally while still playing a captured performance. In future, we believe a mix of live performance capture, procedural animation systems and AI will change the way we both create and enjoy VR experiences.”
The Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice 360° video can be seen on YouTube, and also viewed in VR with the Google Cardboard viewer via the YouTube Mobile App and with Oculus devices. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice itself is not a VR videogame, however Ninja Theory has shown a great interest in the medium. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Ninja Theory’s work in VR.
