irrational exuberance

the atmosphere http://ift.tt/2EO23Vk

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 16:05:17 -0500

the atmosphere http://ift.tt/2EO23Vk

unseen events just beyond perception http://ift.tt/2FuVS5t

Sat, 24 Feb 2018 15:43:34 -0500

unseen events just beyond perception http://ift.tt/2FuVS5t

One year after Prologue

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 18:01:15 -0400

Hello World!

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of a pivotal moment in my life. The HTC Vive was released and I released Irrational Exuberance: Prologue– the first significant project under my direction.

Much of Irrational Exuberance was built myself, but it wouldn’t have been possible without my friends and colleagues, especially towards launch. It’s a kind of insanity to launch anything that seeks to do something new. Solo and small teams especially need support to pull it off. I want to give my deepest thanks to everyone who has supported me and this project.

Launch was the culmination of many years, beginning with the Oculus Rift DK1 in 2013. I built a self-funded 15-minute prototype of Irrational Exuberance over 6 months, where I discovered how cool space, darkness, and thoughtful atmosphere are in VR. I scrapped almost all of the moment-to-moment design after I saw the prototype that would become the HTC Vive, thanks to Valve, in early 2014. It changed everything. I questioned everything as much as I could. Later that year I worked with WEVR on TheBlu’s whale encounter. I continued to invest in Irrational, and I’m thankful that WEVR jumped in to help fund wrapping up Prologue. We were planning a late 2015 launch but everything was pushed back. I reassessed, polished more (obsessed) for the April 2016 launch.

With excitement and anxiety, I released Prologue into the wild on April 5th, 2016. I feared I wouldn’t connect to an audience and that it wouldn’t be understood. I also worried that it wasn’t enough to show where the larger experience will go, and that this kind of “statement” about what VR could be (and what I want from it) wasn’t strong enough. The response has been overwhelming, and although I do think Prologue’s “statement” could be much stronger, this glimpse of a world I want to be in, that I want to exist, resonated– in some cases deeply so.

So what of the last year? I spent time traveling to festivals all over the world thanks to the reception of Prologue, from Bogota, Colombia to Melbourne, Australia, from Toronto to Park City, Utah. Not to mention lots of opportunities to show it around LA. It has been a huge honor and a bit surreal to realize it’s shown at over 20 festivals and events on 5 continents. I’ve also been looking for partners to help fund the full two hour experience and continue to do so. I’ve picked up some projects to exercise different design muscles and help pay the bills. All the while, Irrational Exuberance has continued to evolve and develop in my free time, along with the help of collaborators. I can’t wait to share more!

In the near term, I’ll be releasing an update to Prologue to resolve performance problems that have developed in the last few months due to changes in the underlying technology stack. Remarkably, it ran great without any updates for almost 9 months.* The coming update will also have some minor features and tech upgrades.

I want to thank all our fans and those who have supported Irrational Exuberance. This is a project I care deeply about and is still very much alive. If you’d like to continue to support the project, the best thing you can do is to make that support visible– add Irrational Exuberance to your wishlist on Steam and follow us on your preferred social mediums. You can also subscribe to news and sponsor the project directly via IrrationalExuberanceVR.com.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you and discussing what VR, as a transformational medium, can be.

Ben Vance
Founder, Buffalo Vision

Ps. Thank you to Wevr, Kaleidoscope, Valve, Oculus, Glitch City, Sundance, TIFF, IndieCade, and especially to my fellow collaborators.

* a quick fix for the problem is to disable reprojection, both asynchronous and interleaved, in the Steam settings.

an interstellar explorer (aka @xptnd) #vr #mixedreality #space...

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:34:53 -0400

an interstellar explorer (aka @xptnd) #vr #mixedreality #space #planetary http://ift.tt/2ptspQ5

green screen rapture w/ @awfultyler #greenscreen #vr...

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:26:56 -0400

green screen rapture w/ @awfultyler #greenscreen #vr #mixedreality http://ift.tt/2nEitXw

#vr #unknown #cyan #space http://ift.tt/2nE7qgX

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:22:56 -0400

#vr #unknown #cyan #space http://ift.tt/2nE7qgX

first screenshot from the release of Prologue on April 5th 2016....

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:17:49 -0400

first screenshot from the release of Prologue on April 5th 2016. It’s been an otherworldly year. http://ift.tt/2o5gAPd

We had the tremendous honor of exhibiting Irrational Exuberance...

Wed, 28 Sep 2016 01:12:53 -0400

We had the tremendous honor of exhibiting Irrational Exuberance in Bogotá at #IndieBo… INSIDE of a national monument!! http://ift.tt/2dyoH33

Thrilled to be at #TIFFxPOP this weekend, come see us Toronto!...

Fri, 15 Jul 2016 16:21:35 -0400

Thrilled to be at #TIFFxPOP this weekend, come see us Toronto! http://ift.tt/29CzSp5

atmosphere #conceptart http://ift.tt/1XwKo6i

Sat, 18 Jun 2016 20:48:35 -0400

atmosphere #conceptart http://ift.tt/1XwKo6i

Amazing space provided for us at #artpower #filmatic fest in San...

Sat, 07 May 2016 18:29:21 -0400

Amazing space provided for us at #artpower #filmatic fest in San Diego! #VR #htcvive http://ift.tt/1SXbKw8

become lost

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 21:28:26 -0500

become lost

always adore black and white #dither #contrast #VR #echo...

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 17:40:33 -0500

always adore black and white #dither #contrast #VR #echo #conceptart http://ift.tt/1moFcBO

unusual phenomenon #glow #bath #gradients #pink #pure #noise #VR...

Tue, 15 Dec 2015 13:57:15 -0500

unusual phenomenon
#glow #bath #gradients #pink #pure #noise #VR http://ift.tt/1OubP7H

lighting and color experiments #cave #dreams #VR #moodshift...

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 18:53:13 -0500

lighting and color experiments #cave #dreams #VR #moodshift #dark #warmth http://ift.tt/2230oOj

Video

Sat, 05 Dec 2015 20:00:17 -0500

#screenshotsaturday #happyaccidents #rollinghills #undulations...

Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:55:11 -0500

#screenshotsaturday #happyaccidents #rollinghills #undulations #churn http://ift.tt/1OG8PcZ

accepted into Sundance 2016 New Frontiers. Click for full...

Thu, 03 Dec 2015 17:32:04 -0500

accepted into Sundance 2016 New Frontiers. Click for full lineup!

what is life

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 21:23:27 -0400

what is life

game architecture

Wed, 14 Oct 2015 18:33:57 -0400

game architecture