Render the Metaverse Final Winners
We’re pleased to announce the final three winning submissions for ‘Render the Metaverse’, the 360° stereo-panoramic contest from OTOY and Oculus!
You can view the winning entries from July now, along with the top submissions from May and June with your Gear VR.
John Carmack: “Stepping through a window into a world filled with the objects of your imagination is one of the central themes of VR. I liked the sense that it was a vast world full of adventure, but your comfortable home is still waiting for you; you can have both. The touch of whimsy with the sign made me smile.”
Alex Ross: “The setting is a beautiful display of the possible pathways to adventure and fantastic places and things in VR.”
Jules Urbach: “This scene masterfully blends vivid realism and impossible fantasy. It’s a tremendous showcase of how an artful application of this medium can make us feel like we’ve stepped into a lucid dream, and transcend simple presence.”
John Carmack: “Several entries this month tried a theme of “VR User Interface”, but this was the most striking. While VR is mostly associated with entertainment, the prospect of it being a powerful tool for enriching your mind is a theme I can get behind.”
Alex Ross: “This is my favorite of the month, with a striking placement for our point of view. The details of the human structure revealed in a way our eyes could normally never see is enlightening, and the whole virtual classroom makes for an exciting learning environment.”
Jules Urbach: “I was drawn to the originality of this entry, and how well it reimagines the ‘visible man’ science toys of old. I also thought the VR user interface presented to the viewer was especially well thought out. We are in the early stages of figuring out what ideal VR UI is and isn’t. This take on it felt right to me.
Fushimi Inari Forest by Riccardo
Minervino
John Carmack: “This could have been a photograph, which has been a mark against some previous entries, but it is such a lovely scene that it still wins. Excellent range of stereo depth used – I’m looking forward to seeing this as a high fidelity light field.”
Alex Ross: “Breathtaking realistic detail and depth in this lifelike place makes for the kind of believability one would like to experience in VR.”
Jules Urbach: “I liked this scene so much I had our team use it as the splash screen for Octane 3. It also became our first fully automated light field render on orc.otoy.com. I believe this work exemplifies how hyper realism in VR may be best represented, in the end, through carefully crafted synthetic content that takes us past the limits of what a camera lens can capture. The detail and craftsmanship in this piece is astounding.”
Congratulations to all the winners!
— the Oculus team