BBC launches first production on Oculus store

The BBC today launches its first virtual reality (VR) production on the Oculus store. The film, We Wait, is a dramatised depiction of migrants making the perilous journey from Turkey to Greece on smugglers’ boats.

Published: 14 December 2016
We Wait has enabled us to explore how VR can deepen audiences’ understanding of a topic in a way they wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience – a migrant’s perilous journey to Europe.
— Zillah Watson, Executive Producer, BBC R&D

Produced by BBC Connected Studio in collaboration with Aardman Digital, We Wait uses animation to bring to life real accounts from migrants gathered by BBC News. The film begins on the beaches of Turkey, and from there takes viewers on board a vessel as it makes the perilous crossing across the Mediterranean.

By putting the viewer at the heart of the story, We Wait provides a visceral understanding of the suspense and anticipation felt by displaced people journeying to Europe, offering an immersive experience that would be impossible to reproduce through traditional reporting.

We Wait is now available for free globally on the Oculus store, and more information on the film can be found on BBC Taster.

The film has been produced as part of the BBC’s initial experimentation in VR, and launching it on the Oculus store caps off a busy year for VR at the BBC. Other projects have included:

  • The Turning Forest – A VR fairy tale now available for Google Daydream, which sees a young child and a fantastical creature embark on a journey that transports audiences into an entrancing realm of folkish dimension and boundless imagination.
  • Planet Earth II – A series of 360-degree films put viewers alongside the documentary’s film crew, immersing them in the extraordinary natural environments captured in the hit show.
  • Rio Olympics – Live 360-degree video was available throughout the Olympics in Rio this August, and highlights are still available showing the best of each day’s action.
  • No Small Talk – A free-flowing and experimental 360° discussion is about the big ideas that underpin daily life between TV presenter and journalist Cherry Healey and social media sensation Emma Gannon.
  • Trafficked – A VR tale that enables viewers to experience the harrowing story of Maria, a single mother, as she is trafficked from Nicaragua to Mexico.
  • The Resistance of Honey – An immersive 360-degree profile which puts the viewer in the shoes of an urban beekeeper who makes music (and honey) from his bees.
  • Fire Rescue – A 360-degree documentary which tells the real-life story of a crew of London firefighters rescuing six children from a terrifying house fire that broke out on Christmas Day

Zillah Watson, Executive Producer, BBC R&D, says: “We Wait has enabled us to explore how VR can deepen audiences’ understanding of a topic in a way they wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience – a migrant’s perilous journey to Europe. It also offers a distinct way in which to deliver news content, and could be a very interesting tool for telling news stories in the future beyond the confines of traditional reporting.

“This film going live on the Oculus store for the Rift opens the film up to a wider audience, and caps off a big year for VR at the BBC, as we continue to explore the potential this emerging medium has to inform, educate and entertain. Our VR experiments this year have enabled us to look at the role the BBC should play at this early stage, raising important questions over how storytelling, pacing, direction, subtitling, sound and picture quality are all affected.”

RB

Notes to Editors

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