Stories about mental health, expression, grief. That really is just a vessel for stories that we can all relate to. JH: That was the recipe that makes the documentary successful, in that we can all relate to this, even if it’s contained to VRChat, virtual reality, and this whole new world.
We have more and more reference points for this type of change. It was really the lockdown that inspired me to take all of this further and investigate deeper into this world.ĭK: It’s so interesting how everyone escaping into these virtual worlds almost felt like a more grounded version of Ready Player One and that type of technological escape from dystopia. There seemed to be no better time to make a feature-length documentary about that experience and what the value is of social VR and VRChat. VR, for me in that time, became a second home. So many people were making use of online and social media to overcome loneliness. JH: Well there are many themes and messages that have inspired me to make documentaries, but in We Met In Virtual Reality specifically and the approach to making a feature film as opposed to a short film, the inspiration for that really grew out of the pandemic, being in this lockdown, and having this massive shared context of struggle. I hope that We Met In Virtual Reality really represents that and raises a conversation about different ways in which we can use VR technology.ĭK: You’ve had a long-standing relationship with virtual reality, but at what point did you know that there was a documentary in this idea that you wanted to bring forward? VRChat is a user-led platform, so all of the avatars, communities, and events are run by the users and because of that there are so many new cases of what can be done with this technology. We’re at a point now where social VR-VRChat specifically-is a platform that is really taking off and pioneering new ways to use this technology. VR has definitely grown in its uses over the years that it’s been developed. Do you think that’s been helpful in terms of making this technology more accessible? In more recent years it’s been able to escape from that barrier and exist as its own entity.
Full body tracking was really a big moment for my career.ĭK: For so long virtual reality has just been viewed as an extension of video games or a component of massive multiplayer online RPGs.
That also came at a time where I had already been in VR for a while and then got full body tracking, and I think already having some level of awareness beforehand is super helpful. Being able to stand with my colleagues and subjects in VR communities and look down and see my movements, but also hold the camera and see them standing there with the same body language was the fundamental moment that made me so immersed to the point where I felt like I was in real life. Having a tracker on my hip and both my feet-I got full body tracking towards the end of 2019. Joe Hunting: I came into VRChat myself in 2018, but I’d say my revelatory moment was being in that headset and really engaging in the space with full body tracking.
Writer/director/editor, Joe Hunting, graciously took some time to open up on the unique perils and advantages of making a film entirely within VR, how to properly emphasize the humanity and benefits of this technology, the growth of “digital actors,” and what might lie ahead for virtual reality as a modern storytelling tool.ĭaniel Kurland: The evolution of virtual reality is such a rich topic, but to begin with, what’s your personal experience with it and when did you first have a revelatory moment with this technology?
We Met in Virtual Reality highlights how VR is far more than just a fantastical form of escape and that it’s a tool to bridge gaps and open minds in ways that would otherwise be impossible. Joe Hunting’s We Met in Virtual Reality is a documentary that’s filmed and edited entirely within the artifice of VRChat as he communicates with avatars of the film’s fascinating subjects. A growing obsession and control over virtual reality has resulted in unprecedented exploration of virtual worlds, but it’s also allowed this Wild West of a medium to become an exciting new form of storytelling.
It’s never been a more exciting time for immersive forms of technology that increasingly blur the lines between fantasy and reality.