Sony Harnesses Virtual Reality To Deliver A 360-Degree View Of ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’
Sony Pictures harnessed virtual reality to take movie-goers inside the dense forest of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ahead of the film’s December release.
The studio created a 360-degree scavenger hunt to draw the audience inside the film’s world, where they can explore the jungle, learn about the characters and get a sneak peek at how the legend unfolds. Players will search for hidden items to help Spencer (Dwayne Johnson), Bethany (Jack Black), Fridge (Kevin Hart) and Martha (Karen Gillan) find their way back home. Johnson will share this experience with his 58 million Facebook fans on his official page.
Sony used Oculus’s React VR to create a virtual reality experience that works across a variety of devices, so players can join in the interactive scavenger hunt on the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, or any device with access to a Web-VR enabled browser. The game also will appear in the Facebook News Feed, so users can invite friends to join.
The film studio, which has deep ties to Oculus parent Facebook, worked with Avatar Labs, Oculus, and the Facebook Creative Shop to create its immersive digital campaign. The partners discussed the film, reviewed the script, and brainstormed ideas before shooting began.
“We captured the treehouse on set — a key element of the narrative and a location that bridges both the first Jumanji film and this next part of the story — in 360-degree video, giving us an authentic experience from the film that we could share,” said Jen Louis Barrett, Facebook Creative’s North America head of entertainment.
Oculus showcased a number of projects that used the React VR framework. The British Museum employed it to bring together high-resolution photographs, audio commentary from curators, text descriptions, and interactive 3D models of objects within its Egyptian galleries. The National Gallery used it to bring its Sainsbury Wing to virtual reality, inviting people to tour its collection of early Renaissance art. Discover Dubai encourages people to explore the emirate in 360 with its Dubai Tourism treasure hunt game.
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