Visual storytelling in the age of apps and virtual reality and all that technology has become pretty interesting and more interactive as well. Google has been looking at more and more ways to leverage their technological prowess in order to create more engaging stories. Google Spotlight Stories has been created to come up with 360° storytelling that has been created especially for mobile and enhanced by virtual reality tools. Special Delivery is the first short film available for this and it’s now on YouTube.
The first film to be available for this new project was created by British animation studio Aardman Animations, creators of the critically acclaimed Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Shaun the Sheep among other things. The 4 minute animated short is a weird chase between a mysterious stranger leaving a trail of gifts, and a humble caretaker trying to find out what’s going on.
But this isn’t just a straightforward video that you can watch. Your smartphone’s sensors make it interactive, and if you have Google Cardboard, then you’ll appreciate all the more the 360 degree elements they incorporated here. You will be able to unlock 10 subplots, more than 60 moments that you can follow (kind of like a choose your own adventure thing) and three different ways to look at the ending. So each viewing can be a different experience.
But you don’t need to have a VR headset to watch it. You can view it on your YouTube app on your Android device. There will be more Spotlight Stories that will come out next year, all from the Google Advanced Technology and Projects group.
SOURCE: Google
