Go Behind the Scenes of Afterlife VR

December 18, 2018 - - Signal Space Lab has published two blog posts and a dev diary taking us behind the scenes of their upcoming VR experience, Afterlife.

The first outlines how the creation process was formulated by combining elements of filmmaking, theatre, and video game development. With a rich character-driven story shot in live-action, but one that unveils itself through branching narrative techniques, Afterlife is on the cutting edge of VR storytelling. Read about how all these elements came together in the first blog post: https://signalspacelab.com/afterlife-interactive-live-action-story/.

What does it mean to be physically present in life, but not wholly there. A discussion on that idea as the inspiration behind Afterlife can be found in the developer diary on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VweKzSQnUpk.

On the technological side, the team at Signal Space Lab could not find an available camera setup that suited their vision, and thus decided to build the Crane, a camera motion system specialized for VR filmmaking. A longer description of this can be found in the second blog post: https://signalspacelab.com/afterlife-on-set-with-the-crane/.

Afterlife will be coming to Oculus Rift, Oculus GO, Gear VR, and Steam in Q1 2019.

ABOUT AFTERLIFE

A family struggles with the loss of their familial anchor and attempts to mend their frayed bonds. Experience each storyline through a child’s eyes. Using a cutting-edge VR filming technique, Afterlife takes the audience through branching narrative that seamlessly reveals a story that shifts based on the characters that the player chooses to follow and the objects activated within the environment.

KEY FEATURES

• Seamless Interactive Cinematic VR allows players to intuitively affect the story - no loading screens means players are fully immersed without interruptions from start to finish.
• Seamlessly navigate and interact in a rich live-action narrative where no playthroughs are alike - Thousands of unique, story-driven choices means that no two endings will be the same.
• The first installment of the three-part arc is free to experience.
• Experience Afterlife through the eyes of a child — Live-action footage helps retain immersion and strongly connects players with their surroundings.
• + More to be announced as we lead up to launch.

About Signal Space Lab

Founded in 2015, Signal Space Lab is a forward-thinking production house that combines exceptional talent in two specialized Visual and Audio labs to design modular end-to-end solutions for audio, linear and virtual extended reality (XR) projects.

Signal Space Lab debuted in the virtual space with the hybrid experience “We Happy Few: Uncle Jack Live VR” in collaboration with Compulsion Games and Gearbox Publishing. The studio has received praise from its peers in the audio market and has been part of some of the best interactive titles for both AAA and indie developers, including Ludia with Jurassic World Alive and Compulsion Games with We Happy Few and Contrast.

On the visual side, the studio develops IP's and techniques to integrate seamlessly interactions in live-action. The advancements in cinematic techniques took one of their early prototypes to Cannes 2018, and it’s now the base of the upcoming interactive VR film Afterlife (2019).

Either practical, artistic, realistic or magical, Signal Space Lab finds the intersection between people, brands, sounds and technology to bring concepts to life.