NEW REALITIES OF THE UNIVERSE AT SUNDANCE: A CALL TO KEEP IT BEAUTIFUL NOW

Our world is changing, in many ways as a direct result of human impact. But, for many, it is still not deeply understood or even accepted. Virtual reality is a tool that can help us to experience it all more viscerally, allowing us to witness it more directly, firsthand. We can’t help but be moved.

Check out some of our favorite new VR nature and science related experiences featured at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

1. ASTEROIDS!

Mac & Cheez are in danger. This alien pair are hurtling through outer space, bumbling as they go in Asteroids!, an animated VR experience directed by Eric Darnell, of Madagascar fame.

This is the 2nd installment of the Invasion VR animation series. It integrates gaming dynamics into its deeply engaging interactive experience. What’s most important in life? Mac & Cheez lose their way, it’s up to you to show them what’s what.

2. CHASING CORAL: THE VR EXPERIENCE

Chasing Coral: The VR Experience is an powerful way to immerse in proof of climate change. Created in conjunction with director Jeff Orlowski’s documentary of the same title, this VR underwater experience brings you up close and personal with coral reefs that are being bleached as a result of warming seas. 

You see what the divers see. In particular, this experience follows Zackary Rago, a passionate scuba diver and researcher, as he documented the unprecedented 2016 coral bleaching event at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia.

3. MELTING ICE

Watching ice melt sounds like a bore, but it couldn’t be more fascinating and critically important. Environmental evangelist former Vice President Al Gore takes us on an exploration of Greenland’s melting glaciers, icebergs and icy landscapes in Melting Ice, a brilliant VR experience, directed by Danfung Dennis.

We can witness the ice melting as a result of climate change and that makes a giant difference.

The ice is astonishingly beautiful, even as it melts, but the consequences of global warming are devastating consequences. The experience drives it home. Its mission is to motivate.

4. ORBITAL VANITAS

Float through a sci-fi reality in Orbital Vanitas, a new VR experience, directed by acclaimed Australian Artist Shaun Gladwell.

You travel along Earth’s orbit and contemplate the expanding universe, taking in all of its beauty from a new perspective. An enigmatic form floats towards you. What might it be?

Read more about Beautiful New Realities at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in Reality is Relative! Batch 1 Beautiful VR & AR BN Pick at 2017 Sundance Film.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Competition. We run new creative competitions every week! Now, it’s even easier to enter with the new BeautifulNow App!

Plus check out the rest of our App’s beautiful features. It’s free to download here.

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of Baobab Studios. Asteroids!, directed by Eric Darnell.
2. Image: Courtesy of Baobab Studios. Asteroids!, directed by Eric Darnell.
3. Image: Courtesy of Baobab Studios. Asteroids!, directed by Eric Darnell.
4. Image: Courtesy of Exposure Labs. Chasing Coral: The VR Experience, directed by Jeff Orlowski.
5. Image: Courtesy of Exposure Labs. Chasing Coral: The VR Experience, directed by Jeff Orlowski.
6. Image: Courtesy of Participant Media. Melting Ice, directed by Danfung Dennis.
7. Image: Courtesy of Participant Media. Melting Ice, directed by Danfung Dennis.
8. Image: Courtesy of Participant Media. Melting Ice, directed by Danfung Dennis.
9. Image: Courtesy of Badfaith. Orbital Vanitas, directed by Shaun Gladwell.
10. Image: Courtesy of Badfaith. Orbital Vanitas, directed by Shaun Gladwell.
11. Image: Courtesy of Participant Media. Melting Ice, directed by Danfung Dennis.
12. Image: Courtesy of the Sundance Institute. Real Virtuality, Space Traveler Demonstration, by Artanim Foundation.
13. Image: by BN App - Download now!
14. Image: by Travis Wise. “Sundance Film Festival.”