LoVR
More actions
| LoVR | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Developer | Luniere |
| Publisher | Luniere |
| Director | Aaron Bradbury |
| Platform | Oculus Rift (Platform) |
| Device | DK1, DK2 |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Type | Experience |
| Input Device | Keyboard, Mouse, Gamepad |
| Game Mode | Single Player |
| Release Date | 2014 (Vessel dome presentation); 2015 (VR festival presentations) |
| App Store | Oculus Share |
| Website | https://www.luniere.com/project/lovr/ |
LoVR is a stereoscopic 360-degree virtual reality film created by Aaron Bradbury under the name Luniere. It depicts the moment of falling in love through animated text and abstract representations of brain activity. The film uses "Vessel", written and performed by Jon Hopkins.[1][2] It circulated as a VR App for the Oculus Rift (Platform) as well as in other immersive presentation formats.[1]
Features and narrative
The narrative expands a four-second encounter into approximately four minutes. Bradbury organized its text into three parallel layers: short poetic statements that carry the love story, descriptions of neural processes, and diagnostic messages from an imagined recording machine. The main narrative text is larger and more prominent than the surrounding technical information.[3]
The machine imagery is an artistic construction. Bradbury's production account explains that he downloaded freely available EEG datasets and used analysis applications to simulate the capture process. Diagnostic text from that software supplied visual detail. This account describes a staged data narrative rather than a scientific recording of the depicted romantic encounter.[3]
The presentation begins with a restricted field of visual activity, then expands into the surrounding space as the emotional intensity increases. Bradbury also varied stereoscopic depth over time, reserving the strongest depth effects for the moment when the two characters return each other's gaze.[3] His camera-development notes describe floating, spinning and falling movements as ways to express the story's loss of control.[4]
Production
The project was developed under the title Vessel, also the name of its music track. In a 2018 interview, Bradbury called LoVR his first VR piece and connected it to his earlier work in planetarium films, interactive installations and music-based projects.[5][3]
Bradbury's August 2014 technical presentation used a scene from the unfinished film to demonstrate rendering a stereoscopic sphere. His workflow used 3ds Max, mental ray and the Domemaster3D lens shader. He previewed side-by-side renders on an Oculus Rift with Whirligig, allowing him to test the depth and spherical composition before viewing the material in a dome. The presentation distinguished full-sphere headset output from the 180-degree field commonly used for fulldome projection.[6]
The music credit identifies Hopkins as both writer and performer of "Vessel", with publication by Just Publishing and a recording licensed from Domino Recording Co Ltd.[7] The IDFA record additionally credits Bradbury with production, cinematography and editing, and Luniere with the screening copy.[8]
Presentation and festival history
The film's work year, early dome presentation and later VR festival appearances have separate dates. IDFA catalogs LoVR as a 2014 work and its 2015 presentation as the Dutch premiere.[8]
| Year | Presentation |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Presented as Vessel at Fulldome UK at the National Space Centre in Leicester. The festival ran on 7-8 November; the film received Best Narrative and the Audience Award.[9] |
| 2015 | Selected for the Kaleidoscope VR Film Festival North American tour, announced as visiting ten cities in the United States and Canada.[10] |
| 2015 | Listed in the FIVARS program as a passive spherical-video work directed by Bradbury.[11] |
| 2015 | Dutch premiere at IDFA, whose archive identifies it as a 360-degree experience.[8] |
| 2016 | Bradbury announced its selection for a VR program at Cannes run by Pickup Cinema, scheduled for 11-22 May.[12] |
Catalog runtimes differ: IDFA lists four minutes, while FIVARS lists five minutes and twenty seconds.[8][11]
Historical distribution
The creator's project page provides historical viewing routes for Oculus Rift through Oculus Share, a downloadable Gear VR version, and Google Cardboard viewing through the Littlstar mobile application. It also describes the film as designed for a head-mounted display. These are records of its original distribution, rather than confirmation that the old applications or downloads remain compatible with current devices.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "LoVR". Luniere. https://www.luniere.com/project/lovr/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "Aaron Bradbury". FIVARS. https://fivars.net/director/aaron-bradbury/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Love + Immersion". Luniere. 2015-02-02. https://www.luniere.com/2015/02/02/love-immersion/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "Tumbling in Turmoil". Luniere. 2014-09-07. https://www.luniere.com/2014/09/07/tumbling-in-turmoil/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "Filmmaker Aaron Bradbury on technology as an evolving medium". The Creative Independent. 2018-09-12. https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/filmmaker-aaron-bradbury-on-technology-as-an-evolving-medium/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "Stereoscopic Workflow for Immersive Cinema". Luniere. 2014-08-17. https://www.luniere.com/2014/08/17/stereoscopic-workflow-for-immersive-cinema/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "LoVR". IDFA Archive. https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/75f80d33-cb80-4c51-bf8e-583aab9ad250/lovr/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "FDUK 2014". Fulldome UK. https://www.fulldome.org.uk/fduk-2014/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "Kaleidoscope VR Film Festival". Luniere. 2015-08-18. https://www.luniere.com/2015/08/18/kaleidoscope-vr-film-festival/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "LoVR". FIVARS. https://fivars.net/stories/stories2015/lovr/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
- ↑ "LoVR at Cannes Film Festival – VR Program". Luniere. 2016-05-16. https://www.luniere.com/2016/05/16/lovr-at-cannes-film-festival-vr-program/. Retrieved 2026-10-18.