Julian Reyes's presentation from the Digiday WTF VR in New York City on May 11th, 2016

2. Before You Dive Into VR
Don’t bite off too much.
Experiment and innovate with each project.
Focus on a couple major, immersive cinematic
projects every year.
Build a nimble internal team.

3. Before You Dive Into VR
Partner on larger projects; bring in different sets of
expertise to augment your team’s skills (e.g. Nvidia)
Plan for preferred consumption habits.
Ensure your entire video team is able to shoot and
stitch 360 video – will soon be consumed at similar
rates as regular video.

5. The Team
Julian Reyes, original concept/project lead
Sydney Do, scientific consultant, MIT space systems lab
Steve Ellmore, technical lead
Dave Flamburis, 3D design lead
Kristian Pedlow, Senior Art Designer
Gwen Frey, lead animator
Michael Kraack, senior technical designer
Alejandro Reyes, screenplay
Forrest Dowling, gameplay lead
Stina Flodstrom, environment artist
Chad LeClair, environment artist
Scott Resnick, technical designer
Justin Sonnekalb, technical designer
Kent Hernandez, UI/graphic design
Omar Bustamente, UI/graphic design
Tim Gedemer, sound design lead
John Tennant, sound design
Kat Cressida, voice cast
Romina Puga, voice cast
Zachary Dade, voice cast

6. How This All Began
MIT Collaboration
NASA Space Act Partnership

7. Nearly 2 Years of Research

10. Cross-Discipline Collaboration
This project is intended to be a collaborative effort to push on boundaries in each
respective field.
• space exploration research: The consolidation of years of research in a
cohesive interactive experience.
• real-time 3D rendering for VR: An effort to create the most realistic visuals
and physics available for VR and propel this new medium forward.
• multi-directional audio: Applying new techniques in multi-directional audio
recording to capture the most realistic sound possible for full immersion.

11. Visualizing the Future
Benchmarking our progress to get to Mars.
Offering an educational experience for young and old.
Initiating a dialogue for possible solutions to mission
concepts.

12. • Awareness of the landscape. Understanding the
current state of VR.
• Planning a trajectory for what you’re trying to
achieve.
• Remaining consistent with your ultimate goal.
The Takeaway

13. Thank You
julian.reyes@fusion.net
@humanjulian