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OTOY announces “Render the Metaverse” Month 1 contest winners

Topics: OctaneRender, Company News
Jun. 4, 2015 (9 years)

OTOY is pleased to announce the three winning submissions for the first month of the “Render the Metaverse” VR contest, along with commentary from our panel of judges. Congratulations to the winners and all those who participated. We look forward to the next month of entries!

 

1. Deck 75 by Christian Wirdemann

Deck75

Download the VR scene or test drive it in your browser here.

Description from artist: “This is my first entry.”

  • John Carmack: “The bridge between the real and the fantastic speaks directly to what we are doing with VR, the cubic transition is interesting to look at, and the sense of a mysterious world of secrets is strong. I do note that the stereo makes the forward console a little uncomfortable to look at – backing the camera up a little bit might help.”
  • Alex Ross: “This is a perfect way of showing all of the possibilities that VR can bring to life. Unnervingly real and surreal in equal measure, the graphic pixel effects hint at a holodeck future that the Oculus is the first step toward. Looking up will give you a jolt.”
  • Jules Urbach: “I was won over on both subjective and objective levels. Creatively, this blends the real and surreal in just the right way to give a sense of presence in the scene, making the impossible things we are seeing feel that much more impactful.”

 

2. Exploring the Metaverse by Benoit Vincent

ExploringTheMetaverse

Download the VR scene or test drive it in your browser here.

Description from artist: “Here is my idea of ‘Exploring the Metaverse’, I had so much fun doing it and be able to see it in VR. Thank you OTOY!”

  • John Carmack: “I like the feel of going about the business of exploring strange new lands. Bodies are problematic in VR, and a rare choice for a still image, but the empty space suit felt novel.”
  • Alex Ross: “This has a beautiful alien design landscape with an adventurous storytelling quality. As you look around yourself and down, you discover more and more. Very engaging.”
  • Jules Urbach: “I liked how this embraced the theme of a moon landing type expedition into the Metaverse. It touches on how we are truly in the nascent stages of exploring this new medium and collectively learning from it.”

 

3. Mashup Between the Clouds by Moritz Reichartz MashupBetweenTheClouds

Download the VR scene or test drive it in your browser here.

Description from artist: “For this entry I wanted to create a colorful and fun spatial mashup of my favourite 3D objects that I was creating and handling during my first year of working with this amazing renderer. All objects used in the scene where part of projects that happened / almost happen or WIP/RnD and where all created to be rendered with OctaneRender. Please enjoy! I can’t really remember what happened… Everything started lifting off the ground and got mixed up in a colorful space floating between clouds.”

  • John Carmack: “The clean, surreal rendering appealed to me. Experimenting with a sense of presence in impossible situations is one if the unique capabilities we have now.”
  • Alex Ross: “This is a striking design in how it assembles various pieces in a trippy, mind-bending way. Here the construction of elements must have been relatively simple, but it’s all a skillful use of the VR technology.”
  • Jules Urbach: “I loved this scene. It vividly and elegantly makes use of the space around the viewer. It reminded me of the moment in Inception where Paris is being turned over on itself like a sheet of paper. Seeing this effect presented as it was here in VR was compelling.”

 

Each judge has also provided a list of their top 10 submissions.

John Carmack’s Top 10:

    1. Deck 75
    2. Moving Day
    3. Exploring the Metaverse
    4. Mashup Between the Clouds
    5. Story Time
    6. Concrete Sunset
    7. Small Flat in Metaverse
    8. In the Limbo
    9. Raised into Oblivion
    10. Forest House

Alex Ross’ Top 10:

    1. Deck 75
    2. Memories of Eden
    3. Moving Day
    4. Surreal Space
    5. Exploring the Metaverse
    6. Crazy Furniture Freeze
    7. Dirty Cooper Inside
    8. Mashup Between the Clouds
    9. Relativity 360
    10. The Passage

Jules Urbach’s Top 10:

    1. Deck 75
    2. Mashup Between the Clouds
    3. Moving Day
    4. Colonial Wars
    5. Story Time
    6. Memories of Eden
    7. Exploring the Metaverse
    8. Crazy Furniture Freeze
    9. Relativity 360
    10. Small Flat in the Metaverse

 

For more information on the contest visit vr.otoy.com, and to see all of the entries visit the contest gallery at http://render.otoy.com/vr_gallery.php.