Announced at the recent Star Wars Celebration Europe event, which took place in London, Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB and Hollywood filmmaker David S. Goyer are to bring the Star Wars universe to the exciting medium of virtual reality (VR.) VR technology is designed to simulate the user’s physical presence and environment to allow for immersive user interaction.
Few details have been released other than a short teaser clip shown at the Star Wars extravaganza. The clip featured the Dark Lord of the Sith silhouetted against a fiery planet, his Sith-symbolic red lightsaber ignited, looking menacing. Mashable’s commentator speculates that the planet is Mustafar, where fallen Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker completes the transition to become the Sith lord Darth Vader.
As Vader looks on, a voiceover, sounding ominously like Darth Sidious, emperor of the Star Wars galaxy leading up to the fourth (first?) Star Wars movie (A New Hope). Palpatine utters sinister insights into the “unnatural” abilities associated with the Dark Side of the Force, as if seducing the fallen Jedi further into the ways of the Sith. If this is so, then the VR experience could be set soon after the Revenge of Sith movie, detailing Anakin Skywalker’s early experiences as Darth Vader.
A clip of the VR appearance by Vader is shown as part of a recorded stream from Celebration Europe:
Other than that there are no details relating to the story, other than it is ‘brand new.’ If Lucasfilm are to take the plunge into VR, then starting with an iconic villain like Vader is surely a good move — Kylo Ren juts doesn’t pack the same degree of screen menace.
While story details are slight, the significance is important not only for the new medium but in relation to the Star Wars story. According to Lucasfilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo, the story line will actually be considered series canon. For Star Wars fans this is significant, given that so many of the spin-off comics and books, which form “the expanded universe”, are non-canonical — that is, they represent alternatives to the main story played out in the seven (and counting) movies.
This shift towards canon is important to screenwriter David Goyer, who said in an interview with StarWars.com that “Darth Vader is the perfect ambassador to usher us into the Star Wars VR universe.” Certainly, VR suits the fantastical world of Star Wars, where people can immerse themselves in the VR experience.
A second Lucasfilm VR project is also in development, called the Trials of Tatooine. This appears to feature an unknown character battling stormtroopers with a lightsaber.
The announcement has caused excitement on Twitter, with the news lighting up feeds under the #virtualreality hashtag.
