BBC Earth teams up with Oculus for natural history VR experiences

BBC Worldwide’s naturally history service BBC Earth has struck a partnership with virtual reality outfit Oculus to launch three new VR experiences.

The experiences will enable users to become immersed in the daily life of a caracal cat, an oogpister beetle and black bears.

All three virtual reality experiences will be released separately on Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR platforms this January and will be available free to download for the first three months.

The caracal cat experience, ‘Cat Fight’, will integrate computer-generated imagery with 360° video and allowing users to freeze the wild cat in mid-jump and zoom in on it.

The oogpister beetle experience, ‘Oogie’ will take the form of an interactive CGI game featuring the African beetle. Based on real life footage from BBC Earth, the player will get to take on the form of the beetle and encounter the daily challenges it faces. Users will be tasked with guiding the beetle to safety, avoiding hazards, obstacles, and deadly predators.

The final experience, ‘Bear Island’, will showcase an interactive 360° video enabling users to follow black bears in the Alaskan wild, with the ability to jump between different perspectives and parallel storylines.

Julia Kenyon, global brands director for BBC Worldwide said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Oculus to give audiences a completely different insight into the natural world. By allowing users to immerse themselves in the environments of these three animals, we are hoping to bring people rich and unforgettable adventures different from any traditional natural history series.’’