An Oculus Rift Experience Nabs First Virtual Reality Oscar Win

will be the recipient of a special Oscar statuette to honor its amazing narrative.The man behind [...]

By Liana 'LiLi' Ruppert

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(Photo: Carne Y Arena)

For the first time ever, a virtual reality experience has just won an Oscar! The announcement came today via The Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that the VR experience Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible) will be the recipient of a special Oscar statuette to honor its amazing narrative.

The man behind Carne Y Arena has already won two Oscars in the past, and the well-deserved win awarded to Alejandro G. Iñárritu shall be given to him at the Governors Awards taking place on November 11th. The event will house his virtual reality installation, whose previous home was the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. An exciting first for Mr. Iñárritu and for The Academy.

According to the official exhibit's description:

Alejandro G. Iñárritu's conceptual virtual reality installation Carne Y Arena (Virtually present, Physically invisible) explores the human condition of immigrants and refugees. Based on true accounts, the superficial lines between subject and bystander are blurred and bound together, allowing individuals to walk in a vast space and thoroughly live a fragment of the refugees' personal journeys. An immersive installation that reunites frequent collaborators Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki alongside producer Mary Parent and ILMxLAB, Carne Y Arena is centered around a 6 ½-minute virtual reality sequence for one person that employs state-of-the-art immersive technology to create a multi-narrative light space with human characters.

"During the past four years in which this project has been growing in my mind, I had the privilege of meeting and interviewing many Mexican and Central American refugees. Their life stories haunted me, so I invited some of them to collaborate with me in the project. My intention was to experiment with VR technology to explore the human condition in an attempt to break the dictatorship of the frame, within which things are just observed, and claim the space to allow the visitor to go through a direct experience walking in the immigrants' feet, under their skin, and into their hearts."

The unique experience utilises the Oculus Rift paired with a sand-covered room and several multi-screen video units. The environment is set both externally and within the Oculus program itself, creating a unique and heartfelt experience.

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