Samsung has long been associated with the Olympics, it has been one of the biggest sponsors of the game for the past few years, and earlier this year it announced that it's going to be the first company to deliver Olympic content in virtual reality. In the spirit of highlighting this partnership Samsung has released a new immersive virtual reality experience called “Vanuatu Dreams,” the VR experience enables viewers to experience Olympic Games beach volleyball like never before.
Vanuatu Dreams is a three-minute virtual reality experience which focuses on the training and preparation of Miller Pata and Linline Matauatu, two athletes from Vanuatu, and their quest to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Samsung says that filming of this experience involved some of the most extensive use of close-up 360-degree slow motion in virtual reality history. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville served as creative consultant for this VR experience. A specialized filming strategy had to be developed in which the camera was position 10-12 inches from the athletes without hampering their movement, allowing viewers to feel really close to the action. Vanuatu Dreams is available as a free download from Samsung Milk VR and can be viewed using the Gear VR.
