BBC Launches VR Production On Oculus Store

The BBC has launched its first virtual reality production on the Oculus store.

We Wait, which has been produced by BBC Connected Studio in collaboration with Aardman Digital, is a dramatised depiction of migrants making the perilous journey from Turkey to Greece on smugglers' boats. The film commences on the beaches of Turkey before taking viewers on board a vessel as it makes the journey across the Mediterranean.

The animation brings to life real accounts from migrants gathered by BBC News, and is now available globally, for free, on the Oculus store.

The film has been produced as part of the BBC's initial experimentation in VR. Its launch on the Oculus store concludes a busy year for VR at the BBC, with other projects including Planet Earth II (a series of 360-degree films put viewers alongside the documentary's film crew, immersing them in the extraordinary natural environments captured in the show); Rio Olympics (live 360-degree video was available throughout the Olympics in Rio this August, and highlights are still available showing the best of each day's action); Trafficked (a VR tale that enables viewers to experience the harrowing story of Maria, a single mother, as she is trafficked from Nicaragua to Mexico); and Fire Rescue (a 360-degree documentary which tells the real-life story of a crew of London firefighters rescuing six children from a terrifying house fire that broke out on Christmas Day).

Zillah Watson, Executive Producer, BBC R&D, said: "We Wait has enabled us to explore how VR can deepen audiences' understanding of a topic in a way they wouldn't otherwise be able to experience – a migrant's perilous journey to Europe. It also offers a distinct way in which to deliver news content, and could be a very interesting tool for telling news stories in the future beyond the confines of traditional reporting.

"This film going live on the Oculus store for the Rift opens the film up to a wider audience, and caps off a big year for VR at the BBC, as we continue to explore the potential this emerging medium has to inform, educate and entertain. Our VR experiments this year have enabled us to look at the role the BBC should play at this early stage, raising important questions over how storytelling, pacing, direction, subtitling, sound and picture quality are all affected."

Further information on We Wait can be found via BBC Taster here.

(JP/MH)