Madefire is giving its readers a whole new storytelling experience by launching a virtual reality comic book platform.
The digital start-up company gave the public a preview of its Books and Miss Application during the New York Comic-Con. The new application is powered by the Oculus Gear VR and allows users to have a realistic reading experience.
The new application lets users experience a lot of fluid animation brought by 3D movements and sound effects. Once users put on the Galaxy VR, they get to experience 360 panoramic views complete with sound effects and music. During a simulation held at the New York Comic-Con, Anthony Ha from Tech Crunch said that the experience was quite overwhelming because "[I felt that] I was occupying the same space as the art."
Madefire has also created an authoring tool made especially for comic book creators. This tool allows artists to manipulate how their comics behave in the 3D realm.
The demo app is still limited but it contains popular titles including "Planet of the Apes," "Transformers," and DC's "Injustice: Year One." Madefire announced that the app is already available on the Oculus Store with a size of about 3.16GB.
While the new application demonstrates a dynamic storytelling technique, it is still grounded in traditional comic-book reading. Madefire's Chief Executive Officer Ben Wolstenholme told the Tech Times that although the company sought to amplify the comic-book reading experience, they still wanted it to remain as a "native digital experience."