Bristol-based Opposable VR, in collaboration with Cartoon Network, is bringing a first-of-its-kind game to your phone – “I See Ooo”. Encompassing both an original Adventure Time story and two immersive virtual reality (VR) games (with a third promised to reach you soon), Opposable VR’s latest project is incredibly innovative.
“The Adventure Time VR game is one of the very first VR games built for mobile devices and [Google] Cardboard”
The game itself sounds like a lot of fun, “the player can explore the tree fort and 14 characters as well as shoot penguins and take a glider for a spin”, and it’s available to play now if you have a Google Cardboard VR viewer.
A new breed of merchandise
We caught up with Ben Trewhella, Opposable VR’s Managing Director, to tell us more about I See Ooo. He tells us, “The Adventure Time VR game is one of the very first VR games built for mobile devices and [Google] Cardboard. It is one of a new breed of merchandise that combines a digital app with a physical toy, in this case, a VR headset.”
You can take the VR trip inside the weird and wonderful world of Adventure Time by either popping down to your local Forbidden Plant store to buy a headset, or by purchasing one online from Pyramid. Ben explains, “The headset comes with an unlock code so that the game can be downloaded for free. If you already have a Google Cardboard or similar for your phone, the game can be purchased from Google Play.”
Collaborating with Cartoon Network
The Opposable VR team tell us it was amazing to work with Cartoon Network and how rewarding the work is as a conspicuous step forward for the future of VR. So how did Opposable VR get the chance to make a game of one of the most popular programmes on the channel?
“We together realised that we had the perfect combination of abilities to deliver this new product”
Ben explains “We have been talking to many companies in the South West regarding applications for Virtual Reality. One of these was Attention2Detail, a Bath-based company that has been working with large brands such as Cartoon Network for the last 15 years.
“After talking through the potential for Virtual Reality, we together realised that we had the perfect combination of abilities to deliver this new product, and that Cartoon Network had the cartoons with the audiences that would be the first to ‘get’ VR. Cartoon Network loved the idea and after much negotiation between their teams (an entirely new concept requires a lot of people to collaborate for success) we got to work.”
Next steps – going global
This isn’t the only big news coming from the Opposable VR camp. It has an abundance of projects on the go – in fact, the multitasking is quite impressive!
Plans for VR World Congress 2017, the massive virtual reality conference the company organises, are well underway, and Ben urges anyone looking to start a career in VR in the West to come along: “It will be the best place to meet the VR industry, covering UK, Europe, China and the US. Also get involved with one of the many meetups or tech events which are happening, play with the headsets, work out what part of it makes you most excited, then start doing it, possibly at a games jam or tech event, or even just at home or in your office.”
- You may like: VR World Congress talks now available to watch online
More details on VRWC 2017 will be released on this soon, so watch out for our updates. You can check out the VR World Congress 2016 wrap-up trailer below to get a flavour of this year’s event:
Excitingly, the Opposable VR team are also in the midst of launching the first ever fully VR website, which simultaneously is a new way of delivering VR and will, literally, bring a whole new dimension to the web.
On top of this, the launch of Salvaged is set to arrive very shortly. This is another game that Opposable VR has been working hard on, and has also inspired the development of some VR comics.
Creating connections in the West
The West is a very active region regarding VR, “The South West was literally there at the beginning of Virtual Reality, with much of the major design thinking and hardware components tested and evaluated in research labs over the last 30 years.” And it continues to hold clout, “there are a bunch of companies and professionals who are unusually closely networked in the South West, and whose businesses are shortly going to collide as VR and AR develop as emerging technologies.”
So watch out for more exciting developments from Opposable VR, and in the meantime why not check out I See Ooo and discover the world of VR for yourself.
“I See Ooo” is now available to buy online from Pyramid now. Check out Opposable VR’s website to see what the team are up to and for more details on the game, or follow them on Twitter: @OpposableVR
