Disney wants to get devs and film directors working together on Star Wars VR projects

The success of virtual reality could be cemented by the backing of one of the biggest brands in entertainment.

Disney and Lucasfilm have revealed a strong future presence on VR platforms for Star Wars-related experiences.

These include both consumer-friendly demos – such as an explorable virtual recreation of Jakku from Episode VII: The Force Awakens – and software designed for use by movie directors themselves, such as Holo Cinema, which has been used by film-maker Gareth Edwards to visualise the computer-generated characters for upcoming release Star Wars: Rogue One.

Lucasfilm Story Group’s Diana Williams told Slashfilm that these will be part of a heavy Star Wars presence on VR over the next five years.

However, ILM x Lab, the Industrial Light and Magic division dedicated to exploring the medium of VR, insisted that the experiences won’t solely be shallow marketing-related material.

Instead, ‘fully narrative stories’ are expected to be created for devices such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (although the firm refused to be drawn on which platforms it would be favouring – if any), in an effort to establish VR as its own category, alongside games and movies.

ILM x Lab said that it had already been seeing interest in working in VR from a number of notable film-makers, with hopes to bring them together with some of VR’s biggest evangelists in the world of games to fully utilise the burgeoning 360-degree format.