The Sleepy Hollow Virtual Reality Experience created for the Oculus Rift DK2 won an Emmy, marking the first time such an award honors VR work.
This immersive VR experience is a joint effort, co-produced by Fox and Secret Location, a content studio for emerging platforms.
At this year's Emmy Awards, The Sleepy Hollow VR Experience won the Creative Arts Emmy for the "Interactive Media, User Experience and Visual Design" category.
"Using advanced VR technology and a compelling story, Secret Location transported users to the world of Sleepy Hollow, giving them a truly unique and memorable live experience," the project description reads.
The Sleepy Hollow VR Experience made its debut at the San Diego Comic-Con 2014, aiming to promote the Sleepy Hollow show by creating a unique and immersive experience. The project's goal was to create an installation that would fascinate both the show's fans and the people who haven't watched it yet, sparking excitement both online and in-person.
With this goal in mind, Secret Location teamed up with the creators behind the Sleepy Hollow show and came up with an exciting VR experience that mixed "live-action footage shot with the show's stars and a stunningly-rendered virtual environment." Oculus Rift users were able to get a glimpse of what it would be like if the Headless Horseman chopped off their heads and waved them in front of them.
Thanks to a custom iPad app, The Sleepy Hollow VR Experience took photos of fans and virtually cut of their heads to make a Sleepy Hollow poster that followed the VR narrative experience on screens. Fans could share the Sleepy Hollow poster with their "chopped off" heads on social media.
The project proved to be quite popular at Comic-Con, with many people waiting in line for two hours to get the chance to go through the special installation.
The Creative Arts Emmy further proves the project's success, paving the way for more engaging virtual reality experiences.
"Originally developed as part of a Comic Con San Diego 2014 installation, viewers are transported to the town cemetery to have their own nerve-wracking experience in Sleepy Hollow. With an appearance from show lead Tom Mison, as Ichabod Crane, and a number of other nods to the series from both past and future seasons, it's an authentic and immersive way to explore the show universe," further boasts the description on Oculus Share.
Interested fans can check out The Sleepy Hollow VR Experience on Oculus Share, provided they have an Oculus Rift DK2 and a PC capable of powering the headset (NVIDIA GTX 780 and 16GB of RAM recommended). For a better idea of the project, see the video below.
