David Attenborough’s ‘Kingdom Of Plants’ Gets VR Makeover With Oculus TV (EXCLUSIVE)

K.J. Yossman
·2 min read
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David Attenborough’s eye-opening flora series “Kingdom of Plants 3D” has been given a virtual reality twist via Oculus TV.

The three-part series is available on the immersive entertainment platform from today, taking viewers from inside a microscope where they can see some of the smallest seeds to the interior of a Venus flytrap.

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“You can go to Africa and watch elephants and you’ll see more or less what you see on TV but you can’t go anywhere in the world and see plants like you can in this series…The whole experience in 3D is just entrancing, and hypnotically beautiful,” Attenborough said of the original 3D film.

“Kingdom of Plants” allows Oculus TV audiences to see the natural world in plant time and at plant scale via 8K 3D 60fps time-lapse footage shot over weeks on customised 3D stereoscopic cameras, specially developed stereo-timelapse rigs, and VFX compositing techniques alongside macro live-action cinematography and computer graphics. Oculus TV users can experience the series in 8K on Quest 2, and in 5K on Quest.

The adaption for Oculus TV was produced by Alchemy Immersive, in collaboration with Meta Quest, ZOO VFX and 1.618 Digital.

“One of the promises of VR is its ability to immerse users in fantastic and alien worlds,” said Eric Cheng, head of immersive media at Meta Quest. “By manipulating time and scale, ‘Kingdom of Plants’ succeeds in that endeavour, providing an awe-inspiring 3D peek into a fascinating slice of life on planet Earth.”

Iona McEwan, director at Alchemy Immersive, said: “This immersive series gives you a chance to discover how the life of plants is far from static; it’s full of rich and curious stories of rivalries, dramas, allies and enemies. By immersing you in the plant world at their scale, in their time, and in incredible 8K quality, you experience our world in an entirely new way.”

Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions, added: “To capture these films, we needed brand new technology at every stage of the production. This will allow you to explore the world of plants as never before in a fully immersive 180 3D 8K experience.”

Oculus TV audiences with Quest virtual reality headsets can access the series from today at alchemyimmersive.com/kingdomofplants.

Last year Alchemy Immersive collaborated with Attenborough on the Museum Alive app, which turned the naturalist’s “Museum Alive” film into a virtual reality experience via smartphones.

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