Waterford-based virtual reality creators, VR Education, have announced their partnership with U.S. Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, one of the top aviation and aerospace museums in the USA and Alabama’s top paid tourist attraction.
The deal will see VR Education’s Apollo 11 VR experience incorporated into the Centre’s attractions on June 10th, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
The VR Education Group have also announced that Apollo 11 VR has been chosen by Facebook as part of the Oculus Anywhere Programme. This programme is designed to deliver the best-in-class demo experience of Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, Oculus Rift and Oculus Go in a branded kiosk, with hardware and software, and staffed by Oculus Brand Ambassadors.
These are the demo experiences that will be on show at conferences like Sundance, PAX, F8, GDC. Each of the demo events are approved by Oculus marketing, and the content is curated from their list of pre-approved apps.
Apollo 11 allows VR users to explore the detail of the Lunar Module and Command Module. Gamers can land on the Moon’s surface, explore the Apollo 11 landing site and deploy the original experiment, and explore every detail of the lunar module and command module at their own pace.
Late last year, VR Education released a new HD version of the educational virtual trip of the mission taken by astronauts Neill Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon, which was a complete overhaul of the experience, and includes a myriad of new features such as enhanced graphics and VR artistry, revamped audio, and new animations.
The original Apollo 11 recorded €1.4 million in sales since going live in 2017.
The virtual reality documentary experience has already won 4 major international awards including:
Unity Vision Awards for “Best Film / Interactive Story” in Hollywood
Time Warner – Future of Storytelling Award in New York
Best VR Movie at the VR Festival in Las Vegas
Public Choice Award at the FIVARS Conference in Toronto
Commenting on the project, CEO of VR Education, David Whelan said, "We are delighted to be working with the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre. This year they are expecting over one million visitors to walk through their doors and the Centre has given us a prime location within the museum where visitors can participate in the Apollo 11 VR experience. It is also great to be working with Facebook to promote educational content via our Apollo 11 VR experience, which was updated to an HD version last year, to show users that VR is used for more than just entertainment."
He added, "It is my belief that there is a child alive today somewhere on this planet that will on day set foot upon Mars. I hope that they get to try VR in school as part of their education and that they get one day to experience Apollo 11 and that this experience sets them on the path to becoming one the next generation of astronauts, engineers and scientists."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
