A UK charity has announced one of the world’s first ‘VR for good’ film competitions with a significant cash prize.
LOROS Hospice cares for over 2,500 terminally ill patients across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (UK) each year and has been working with critically acclaimed VR studio CATS are not PEAS to develop its use of immersive VR with its patients and their families.
The I Experience VR competition, which has a total prize fund of £10,000 and includes a ‘Best of the Best’ top prize of £6,000, aims to attract a wide variety of immersive 360 films, all designed to provide LOROS Hospice patients with a short therapeutic respite from their current reality.
The I Experience VR competition is free to enter and will be judged in a number of different categories including indoor, outdoor, historical and musical.
Alex Rühl, director of CATS are not PEAS, said: “We’re really delighted to be involved with this competition – we think it’s a world first for a VR for Good film competition and it’s an opportunity to really harness the true power of virtual reality for those who need it most.
“We’re looking for some mesmerizing 360 experiences. Beautiful landscapes, creative storytelling and never before seen access. We want these films to be therapeutic and easy to experience so we’re looking for technical excellence with terminally ill users in mind.
“I’d like to invite all filmmakers to get involved and be in with a chance to win a huge cash prize, as well as using their skills for good.”
(Patient John Lee tries out Virtual Reality glasses)
LOROS CEO John Knight: “This is a really exciting project for us, and I believe we are the first Hospice in the country to develop our own VR project, I Experience VR, with the help of CATS are not PEAS.
“It has huge potential for patients, carers and families, to bring an interesting escape, a welcome distraction, a therapeutic experience or simply a bit of entertainment.”
The competition will run from Monday 24th September to midnight on Friday 4th January 2019 and includes categories such as indoor, outdoor, historical and musical, as well as an additional category titled, ‘anything goes’ designed to give amateur filmmakers the chance to show off their talents too.
Alex adds: “We’ve added this category because we want to see the whole spectrum of amazing, immersive content people are creating. Whether it’s VR180, animation, one minute long or 20, and whether you’re a hobbyist filmmaker or a professional production studio - show us what you’ve got!”
In addition to the five top prizes, all entries judged to be taken forwards for inclusion in the I Experience VR library will all receive a Laurel in recognition of the high quality of their film and its potential to benefit Hospice patients.
How to enter the "I Experience" VR contest
We’re are asking all passionate Vuzers to submit a 5-10 minute immersive VR films under the following categories:
- Indoor environment
- Outdoor environment
- Historical/National Trust environment
- Narrative (Drama/Documentary) or Musical
- Anything goes
- Criteria
Your films should be:
- 5-10 minutes in length
- Therapeutic and easy to experience
- Technically excellent
- Designed with terminally ill users in mind.
Prizes will be awarded as follows:
- Best of the best - £6,000
- Best of category 1 - £1,000
- Best of category 2 - £1,000
- Best of category 3 - £1,000
- Best of category 4 - £1,000
Closing date: Friday 4th January 2019
For full details on the competition categories, rules, guidelines and entry information, please visit loros.co.uk/vrcomp
About LOROS Hospice
LOROS Hospice is a local charity which cares for more than 2,500 people across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland every year.
LOROS provides free, high-quality, compassionate care and support to terminally ill adult patients, their family and carers.
A grant from the NHS of approximately one third is received, which leaves £5 million annually for LOROS to raise. The Charity relies on the support of the local community and businesses in order to raise this vital £5 million of funds.