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My Neighbor Totoro In Virtual Reality

An anonymous reader writes "Nick Pitton, the developer behind the Spirited Away Boiler Room VR experience, has released his second project: the bus stop scene from Studio Ghibli's famous movie My Neighbor Totoro, once again in virtual reality for the Oculus Rift. Pittom 'hand-painted' the textures in Photoshop to recreated the painted-background feel of the movie. For the characters (Totoro and the Catbus) he used a cel-shaded approached to approximate the animated look from the movie. For his next project, he plans to recreate the ship and characters from the acclaimed anime Cowboy Bebop."

45 comments

  1. Sounds cool but... by Nyder · · Score: 0

    I don't have a OR, I don't think he's put the files out for you to play it on your OR.

    And facebook owns OR now, so that sort of puts a damper on potential buying.

    Still, stuff like this seems pretty damn cool.

    --
    Be seeing you...
    1. Re:Sounds cool but... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      It does suck that FB bought OR. In principle I have nothing against buying a VR headset from them, same as buying a mouse from "evil" Microsoft, as long as it's just hardware. Problem is: FB, unlike MS, is a company founded on a business model of gathering and whoring out our personal data, and serving us ads. Not a big fan of that. FB may be trying to diversify their business a bit with projects like the OR, which is good, but they may also see it as something to augment their existing business model. In general I'm not happy to see these exiting new startups being snapped up by the new molochs: FB buying OR, Google buying Nest, etc.

      There are a number of other groups working on VR headsets, but as far as I can tell they range from DIY efforts to prototypes that are still a long way from appearing on shelves in shops. Even Valve seems to be struggling, with their VR team bleeding talent to OR's team. With that said, I do expect some consumer and computer electronics manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon once OR proves that there is a viable market for VR headsets.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Sounds cool but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't have a OR, I don't think he's put the files out for you to play it on your OR.

      Do this:

      (1) Get a box, a can of black spray paint, and some elastic straps. Maybe dust off a GameCube controller too.
      (2) Print this and stick it on a DVD case.
      (3) Sign up for a WordPress account.

      Now you too are part of the VR revolution.

    3. Re:Sounds cool but... by Immerman · · Score: 1

      After wrestling with some angst I'm inclined to agree. Hopefully Facebook sees a way to create VR social spaces or something, and just want to make sure the hardware is ready to hit the ground running - network effects benefit dramatically from the capability for mass adoption if something "goes viral", and FB is all about network effects. It seems like a social focus might add some other interesting features as well - for example if they stick with the head-tracking camera I could easily see adding limited facial expression tracking so that your avatar could at least smile/frown/etc naturally, which could add a nice touch in more serious games as well.

      So long as Facebook doesn't "contaminate" the OR itself (system-snooping drivers/APIs? major licensing fees for developers?) I'm still inclined to buy one, it seems like they are the most promising of the bunch both in timing and quality, though a lot will also depend on whether they maintain the collaboration with Valve - they being the ones with the serious game developer community and game-development APIs incorporating easy VR.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    4. Re:Sounds cool but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are already a quite a few, like AntVR, however most of them are either crap or borderline scams. Oculus had a two year headstart and has now a ton of industry talent and a boatload of money, I don't think any garage developer will be able to match them or even get close. Samsung's thing and Sony Morpheus are the only serious competion so far.

    5. Re:Sounds cool but... by Ultra64 · · Score: 1

      "I don't think he's put the files out for you to play it on your OR."

      You're joking right? The download links are right there in the summary.

  2. Not the best Demo for rift i've seen... by danknight48 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I couldn't help but notice:
    - Input delay for head tracking (most probably due to Unity)
    - Head tracking doesnt seem to match where he wants to look
    - He's having to "flick" his head many times to "fix" the headtracking.

    Back to basics and coding is whats needed here.

    1. Re:Not the best Demo for rift i've seen... by fuzzywig · · Score: 1

      The new version is supposed to be much better at head tracking, as it's also using an external camera to track the position and orientation of the head-set. Plus, watching that video, I'm not sure if the video of his face is properly synced to the 3D view.

    2. Re:Not the best Demo for rift i've seen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      The lag is to blame on the video recording.

      The demo itself, just as the earlier Spirited Away VR demo, is very responsive.

    3. Re:Not the best Demo for rift i've seen... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      This is how OR works. They have not solved any of the major problems with head tracking or lag. I was lucky and sold my OR for only a little less than what I paid for it on ebay.

      It's the dirty secret of the OR.. it is not much better than the stuff from a decade ago. If you ever played Dactyl the first VR video game, that is exactly how OR works, sluggish, slow, and not accurate. Sadly they try like hell to hide the fact from everyone that it's really 10 years off before it will be ready for consumers.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    4. Re:Not the best Demo for rift i've seen... by Ultra64 · · Score: 2

      >They have not solved any of the major problems with head tracking or lag.

      Yes, they have. You can preorder the new version now.

      >that is exactly how OR works, sluggish, slow, and not accurate

      I have the first devkit and this is complete bullshit.

    5. Re:Not the best Demo for rift i've seen... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I haven't used any previous Oculus Rift dev kits, but the latest dev kit is amazing.

      I had the privileged to test EVE Valkyrie at the EVE Fanfest this year (it is a dogfighting simulator using Oculus Rift) and it was nothing short of amazing!
      I felt like I was literally inside the cockpit flying the fighter around space debris and chasing down the opposing team; being able to look into any direction around me by just turning my head was mind blowing. It even handled me tilting my body back and forth by zooming in/out (I was craning my neck trying to track some crafts that went under mine).

      In a nutshell: Can't wait for them to get the retail version out!

  3. Patents stunting innovation again? by PsyMan · · Score: 1

    OR IP is more than likely being stripped apart by patent lawyers to ensure that none of the other up and coming VR competitors make it off of the starting block, Its a damn shame but that sort of thing could ultimately be the end of VR or at least set it back by years (we have already waited far too long). I really hope Facebook don't get in the way of what could be a long sought after technology in favour of a fast lame advertising return on a half baked product but I wont hold my breath.

    1. Re:Patents stunting innovation again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No! Patents cannot stunt innovation without paying me fees! I have a patent on innovation stunting patents!

  4. How boring. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So he just copies other peoples work and never thinks up anything himself?

    Kind of like the doofuses who dress up in plastic star wars costumes.

    1. Re:How boring. by Alejux · · Score: 1

      Please, oh Anonymous Coward. Please dazzle us with your great creations in VR. We're all very interested to see what your great creative mind can achieve.

    2. Re:How boring. by Minwee · · Score: 1

      Or those idiots who respond to trolls on public message boards. How pathetic is that?

    3. Re:How boring. by azav · · Score: 1

      other people's* work

              peoples = more than one group of people

      --
      - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
  5. Video (without commentary) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article's video had commentary which, whilst it may add flavour, doesn't exactly communicate the experience's idea. So here's a 4.5min video I found on youtube that has only the 'game' sounds: here

    1. Re:Video (without commentary) by Minwee · · Score: 2

      Or you could, you know, just download the whole thing and run it yourself. It will display on screen, just like in the linked video, with no head-slab required.

  6. Phase One by Brulath · · Score: 2

    So it seems the Rift movies are in phase one still, where they experiment with replicating 2D movies in a 3D environment, and the result is about as boring as you'd expect. A bit like movie -> game (or vice-versa) conversions, you've really got to transform the work to fit the medium copying the scene verbatim with directionless self-insertion into the scene is pretty dull.

    Based on my few minutes of thinking about it, I'm inclined to believe that the only way Rift "movies" will work is either as games or as replications of a play, where the user is stationary but can look around a scene in front of them from their vantage point. If you can't control at least part of the user's vision you're going to have a difficult time making a good movie – they could be looking in completely the wrong direction when something interesting happens, even with audio cues indicating where to look. A play allows the audience member to look around, but only in one major direction, which seems like it would fit the Rift pretty well. I guess this could include virtual concerts too; might even be able to do them in real-time with a good camera setup.

    1. Re:Phase One by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      VR could be great for movies with a lot of nice scenery, to increase immersion. Even if you create the movie in such a way that all the action happens in front of the viewer (perhaps with cues prompting the viewer to look forward when something happens), while still allowing him to look everywhere else and take in the scenery. For movies where most scenery is computer-generated, it shouldn't even be too expensive to produce such a VR version of the movie along with the regular release.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Phase One by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Have you ever watched a movie on a dome screen? Where the screen is a half-sphere (or more) allowing you to look around the scene? They tend to be more of an "experience driven" theme than "plot driven" (ever stood on the wing of an aircraft flying through the grand canyon? flown along with a flock of geese? swum through a prehistoric ocean?), but there's still a strong tendency to look forward, it's jut the most comfortable position for your head. The main benefits are the ability to occasionally follow something interesting as it goes past, and the immersion from having your peripheral vision completely filled (which sadly the OR can't deliver, 100* is only about half your horizontal FOV, which typically extends ~95* away from your nose in both directions).

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  7. Re:AUSTRALIA: The Results Are In by flyingsquid · · Score: 3, Informative
    Thank you, anonymous NRA supporter, for turning a discussion of a touching children's movie into a discussion about murder, rape, and assaulting the elderly. Because assaulting the elderly is precisely the kind of thing I associate with the sensitive, life-affirming films of Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki. In fact, I think when you look closely, assaulting the elderly is the central message of Totoro.

    Your anonymous tirade has shown us all the way. I think you are exactly the type of rational, not-at-all-insane person we want to help us all as a society to make informed decisions about how best to reduce gun violence and the slaughter of children. If this obviously well adjusted person says gun control doesn't work, let's all listen to him and everyone else who is fighting to keep those Glocks, AR-15 assault rifles and other implements of death on our streets!

  8. Great News! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For all those teeming millions at the intersection of Oculus Rift owners and Spirited Away fans. The Internet is finally delivering on its promise of enhancing human knowledge, social interaction, and the wisdom of an engaged populace.

    1. Re:Great News! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh My God! Someone somewhere is having fun! Quick! Shit on it!

  9. Looked like crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It looked like crap.

  10. My Neighbor Totoro? Cowboy Bebop? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not getting into this new VR craze until they make Dragon Pink.

  11. These scenes are pretty awesome by Jordan1519 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    These scenes are pretty awesome, especially for anime fans. My girlfriend was a little apprehensive about trying out the rift, til I showed her the Boiler Room scene. I intend to let her see this one too, but I may wait for my dk2 to come in. The drift from the dk1 caused a fair bit of motion sickness for her after only a few minutes, and I don’t want to turn her off from VR completely. I know she’s a huge fan of Cowboy Bebop, so I suspect she’ll enjoy seeing that too.

    1. Re:These scenes are pretty awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      weaboo fag

  12. Re:AUSTRALIA: The Results Are In by azav · · Score: 1

    Fuck off. Stop comment spamming. This has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
  13. Bebop by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1

    A VR Faye Valentine, looks like there's an OR purchase in my future!

    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  14. Re:Virtual Reality Barry Soetoro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hear, hear. Barry is a crook born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia. But what will you do about it, you dimwitted American?

  15. AUSTRALIA: The Results Are In by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The point was not to make society safer. The criminals never hand their guns in willingly. The point was to stop a 'downhill slide' of gun ownership to match america. The public can not longer easily defend themselves if the government decides to control the population with force.

  16. ãfãfãfÂ&# by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxI4GxamTqE