The future becomes easier to analyse when we look at the past. Films entered the lives of human beings in the early 20th century. Before that, human beings had just seen paintings and pictures. Suddenly, we saw moving pictures at a very fast pace – video.
Multiple videos combined together became a film. The initial films were black and white, did not have any sound, and the music was synced by the orchestras performing live during the film. With time, films added sound, colour, moving shots, crane shots, 3D, etc. About 100 years of millions of human work has helped films reach where they are today. And then comes Virtual Reality (VR).
Before VR, we were just watching films on the screen of a theatre. With Virtual Reality, the screen comes in front of our eyes. It’s just like how we experience the real world. It shows the world in 360° degrees. When we look left, it shows what’s happening in the left direction. When we look right, it shows what’s happening in the right direction.
When we look up/down, it shows what’s happening in the up/down direction. So, now we don’t just watch the characters on the screen, but we might get a chance to live the story with the characters where we ourselves may become a character.
We might become the story’s protagonist and the story unfolds as per the decisions we make. Just like how it happens in the real world. Some of the stories might be a mix of gaming and story-telling, creating a brilliant new form of not just watching but living stories.
The possibilities with VR are endless. VR is all about innovation, creativity, experimenting, failing and learning what works and what doesn’t. We need to focus on the process and enjoy every bit of it. Virtual Reality is not just a little upgrade to films, but it’s a transformation. Transformation takes time but is worth it!
Arvind Ghorwal put the foundation of Elysian Studios back in Nov 2015. He showed Virtual Reality (VR) experiences on a VR headset to many people and their reactions helped him to keep faith in the emerging technology. Elysian Studios uses a unique and in-depth approach to virtual reality storytelling, creating blissful VR experiences. Elysian means divinely inspired, and our mission is to create content which inspires you to travel to spiritual places and helps you grow, evolve and transform.
One of the 1st VR series in India – Mystic Lands
We are one of the 1st VR studios in India who have created a VR series – Mystic Lands, which takes you to some of the most ancient, blissful and energetic lands, like Kashi – The city of Lord Shiva, Bodh Gaya – The land of Buddha’s enlightenment and Rishikesh – Yoga capital of the world.
The most challenging part of creating this VR series was getting in-depth information about the history, culture and traditions of these cities. We spent a lot of time listening to various spiritual gurus and reaching the wisdom which comes from ancient India.
Elysian Studios then planned the complete trip to the amazing cities of Kashi, Bodh Gaya and Rishikesh. The production team had a blissful experience during the production which transformed their lives. The series was featured on various VR platforms. The audience around the world loved it. Many people around the world have heard about Incredible India and the uniqueness of India, but through our VR series they get a glimpse of how incredible India is. We are sure that you would love to visit these blissful locations in India.
Available on www.elysian.studio
About the Author
Arvind Ghorwal is an alumnus of IIT Mumbai. He initially started working
for a start-up founded by his seniors and friends, where he led teams which executed operations in Tier 1 cities in India, using the latest visual technologies like drones, 360, VR/AR. He then founded Elysian Studios, which creates blissful experiences in Virtual Reality.
