Virtual reality is already on its way to becoming the next big thing in gaming, but what could it mean for movies? Curious of what it would be like to step into one of his favorite films, video artist Nick Pittom decided to recreate a scene from Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away for Oculus Rift.
“I created this because of all the things I wanted to experience this was it,” Pittom wrote on his blog. “To be able to step into an animated film in a way that allowed you to be ‘inside’ it seemed a crazy challenge, but if it was easy then what would be fun in that!”
The demo (which can be seen below) places you in the shoes the main character, Chihiro, as she explores the boiler room of the film’s infamous bathhouse. A faithful and extremely detailed 3D rendering of the original 2D scene, the boiler room comes complete with whistling steam vents, sake bottles and soot sprites. Kamaji, the boiler room’s spider-like operator, is there too, overlooking the operation.
Pittom already has another classic Miyazaki scene in the works – the bus stop scene from My Neighbor Totoro. Pittom says this scene will be particularly challenging due to the darkness of the scene and furry textures of both Totoro and the Catbus, but I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
You can download the Spirited Away demo and check out more of Pittom’s work here.
