Creative Industries Emerging Technology
Seattle's Advancements in Virtual & Augmented Reality
Seattle is at the forefront of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) storytelling and provides an environment for innovation. According to a 2023 report, Seattle ranks as the best place to find workers skilled in the latest technology trends.This includes the intersection of film and technology.
Seattle is also considered the number one "smartest" city in the U.S. for our tech infrastructure and connectivity. Over the years, Seattle's investments in VR technology have positioned the region as a pioneer in this dynamic space. Visionary thinkers, talented engineers, and savvy investors have come together to push the boundaries of gaming, publishing, live streaming, hardware, and real life applications. Exciting examples include:
- Researcher Hunter Hoffman began exploring virtual reality in 1993 at University of Washington's Human Interface Technology Laboratory in Seattle, one of the largest VR research laboratories in the world. His research led him to create therapeutic applications of VR in health care, designing virtual worlds used to treat patients and test subjects with acute pain and post-traumatic stress.
- Magic Leap, a developer of human computing interfaces and software, opened offices in Seattle in 2016. The company develops a wearable, mixed reality interface whose "light field" headset technology harmonizes with human senses.
- Pixvana develops cloud-based VR processing software that allows users to edit and publish VR videos, making it easier for more creators to share their work with the world.
-
Seattle-based production company Mechanical Dreams has been pioneering VR content, producing over half a dozen VR projects (the Ch'aak' S'aagi trailer below is one example).
Immerse Yourself
You'll get the best experience viewing the below Seattle-made 360º videos using a smartphone, the YouTube app* and a VR viewer such as Google Cardboard or Gear VR. To experience a video below in the app, tap the title below each video. Put on your viewer and look all around you!
Alternatively, view the videos without a VR viewer and "move" through the video by clicking and dragging or using the directional controls.
Ch'aak' S'aagi (Eagle Bone) trailer
Mechanical Dreams collaborated with filmmaker and indigenous activist Tracy Rector, Nahaan, Ken Workman, and the Naak'w dancers on Ch'aak' S'aagi (Eagle Bone), a cinematic 360 experience that premiered at the inaugural SIFFX Festival, world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is currently touring the international film festival circuit. Director Tracy Rector states, "Ch'aak' S'aagi (Eagle Bone) is a collective step in a new direction of visual storytelling rooted in being unapologetically Indigenous. Through freestyle spoken word and lush Pacific Northwest scenes, we enter into a journey of remembrance and reflection on the lessons of the old ones. Teachings that remind us that we are all individual vessels of spirit and change yet inextricably connected."
Read more from Filmmaker Magazine: Mechanical Dreams Uses VR to Amplify Diverse Voices.
Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk: A Quantum Leap, Starting From The Top…!!!
This installation by artist Xenobia Bailey was showcased from Dec 2016 to Feb 2017 at the Seattle Presents Gallery in the Seattle Municipal Tower. Paradise was the final installation in Dialogues in Art: Exhibitions on Racial Injustice, a year-long series exploring artists’ and curators’ interpretations of racial injustice, both systemic and institutional, impacting Black-identifying people throughout America. According to Bailey, who was born and raised in Seattle, the installation was created as “an exploration for a future of designing and engineering a humane material culture and cyber cottage industry that will address community needs relating to wellness and social and economic development.” Read more about Bailey and the installation.