Last month, we attended the launch of VR Arts in Manchester.
Future Artists - VR Arts in Manchester
Set up in the very heart of the city, Sedulo provided a lavish and spacious venue for this event that allowed a few hundred people from all walks of life to come together and celebrate all things VR.
VR Arts is part of Future Artists, who’s creative work in Manchester and the UK is well known. After a relaxed and enjoyable mingling session, and having given everyone chance to take full advantage of the swanky bar on location, CEO and Founder Mark Ashmore then gathered everyone around to explain his journey and vision within VRArts.
The crowd gathering for the inaugural launch event.
Speaking openly, Mark says "Virtual Reality offers up a once-in-a-generation business and entertainment market that literally did not exist yesterday - but unlike 'a brand new thing', much of how VR works can already be found in other art forms, from traditional forms like painting, drawing and writing, to theatre and Special effects cinema and, of course, reality itself... What VR Arts is trying to do is understand this new world, by experimenting and challenging conventions; - to do this, we need to build a space for our VR pioneers and VR story tellers, and it’s this journey that we begin tonight!"
We made our way around the three different VR experiences; -
• Tilt Brust by Google – presenting all the tools of an artist’s palette in a virtual environment to allow limitless creative possibilities.
• Star Wars (Trials on Tatooine) – a hands-on experience putting users in full control of their own lightsaber in an immersive experience against Stormtroopers.
• Tengio – a tool to radically change the way property developers create and see their multi-million pound developments
An attendee enjoying Tilt Brush on our CCL Phantom PC.
Along with us, the evening was attended by several other sponsors and aids that provided immense support in various different ways. HTC, CoolerMaster, GIGABYTE, LG, Shoosmiths and VR MANCHESTER are just a handful of names that made this spectacular evening possible, but most importantly perhaps, was the general community of gaming enthusiasts, digital artists and technology buffs who simply came to explore. The vast array of cheerful faces, the constant line of people wanting to try the VR demos on offer and the extraordinary buzz of enthusiasm in the air confirmed all in attendance were equally passionate about the exciting future that VR promises.
Watch out for those X-Wings! (Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine on a CCL Spectre)
