Oculus Story Studios won its first Emmy for an interactive film
The prestigious award goes to ‘Henry’, an animated movie about a cute hedgehog.
Virtual reality is an art form that's still in its early stages. Headsets, like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, were only released this year, and people still need to be convinced that VR can be a powerful new way to tell and experience movies, TV shows, and video games. In what could be a tipping point for the VR industry, Facebook-owned Oculus won its first Emmy for Outstanding Original Interactive Program for its animated VR short film, Henry.
The movie, which is only available on the Oculus Rift, is about the titular, cute hedgehog -- voiced by Elijah Wood -- who likes to hug. It's directed by Ramiro Lopez Dau, who previously worked on Monsters University and Cars 2. Henry is the first VR original to receive such a prestigious award, which was previously given to apps and online video projects, such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
Creators are still figuring out how to produce full-length VR films that can rival a movie theater experience. But, this Emmy can be a big step forward for VR, and could help validate this technology as a legitimate tool for storytelling in the coming years.
