Emmys 2019: Five VR and interactive titles earn a nomination
The 2019 Emmys nominations include five titles up for Outstanding Original Interactive Programming — all VR and interactive experiences that people were able to try in the past year. At least one is still online, free and can tried today, while the rest aren't available any more or require downloads, equipment or a subscription to try.
Two of them are tied to the space program, one from the past of the 50th anniversary of the launch and landing of Apollo 11 on the moon, and the second of our mission today to reach Mars. There were seven titles nominated in 2018, just five this year, with winners of the major categories announced live during the Emmys will be broadcast on Sunday, September 22, 2019.
First Man VR
The virtual reality experience built around the 2018 firm, "First Man" was shown in movie theaters. Create Advertising, which helped design "First Man VR," also won a nod in 2018 for its "Spider-Man Homecoming VR Experience." This video piece puts you in the Apollo 11 capsule, watching through the eyes of the astronauts from launch to landing on the lunar surface.
NASA InSight's Mars Landing
NASA's live VR experience of the lander InSight earned a nomination — and this is one you can view on YouTube today. The 360-degree video lasts about 3:35 minutes and was created inside the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the landing on November 26, 2018. To watch you don't need a special headset or any device, and instead can experience the entire video by using your mouse to turn around the entire room virtually.
Traveling While Black
This Oculus experience requires a Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift or Oculus Go device to view. "Traveling While Black" was developed by Felix & Paul Studios, which won the same Emmy in 2017 for "The People's House — Inside The White House With Barack and Michelle Obama." The group also created "Gymnasia," which screened at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival's Virtual Arcade. You can see a 360-degree image from the piece on Felix & Paul Studios web site, placing you inside Ben's Chili Bowl where the experience was filmed.
You Vs. Wild
The VR experience comes courtesy of Netflix, an eight-episode interactive show that puts star Bear Grylls into survivor-like situations. The interactive element is that viewers get to choose different directions for Grylls to choose in each of these episodes. For the first episode, for example, viewers choose whether to put him a helicopter or a plane for his first mission — and you do so by actually clicking on links on the screen. To watch and interact, however, you will need a Netflix account but this can be done both from a TV screen and on a computer.
HQ Trivia x Warner Bros: A Live And Interactive Animation First
The live trivia contest, HQ Trivia, earned a nomination for an interactive experience through its mobile app. Games are held once a day — live — and can be played on both iOS and Android. A second game is held Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon. This nod comes for an event held on February 6, 2019, on HQ Trivia that turned its host into a mini figure that tied to "The Lego Movie 2" release.
