Spherica’s Stabilization Technology Used in HBO’s ‘Westworld’ VR Experience

HBO premiered a VR experience for their new Westworld series at TechCrunch Disrupt, and they used Spherica’s camera stabilization technology in order to pull off an extended live-action tracking shot in VR. Common advice given to new VR filmmakers is to not even try to attempt to move the camera since any shaking or sudden unexpected movements can be a motion sickness trigger. But Spherica has been able to create stabilization platform using a GoPro mount and remote-controlled rover that is able to comfortably move a VR camera through a tracking shot.

I had a chance to catch up with Spherica’s CEO Nikolay Malukhin and managing partner Alina Mikhaleva at TechCrunch Disrupt where we talked about their rover, drone, and cable camera stabilization solutions, collaborating with HBO on the Westworld VR experience, scaling up their rig to Black Magic and eventually RED Epic cameras, and some of their upcoming content and hardware projects including a first-person perspective helmet mount.

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You can watch a high-res demo of their Spherica technology in this Immersive Combat demo for the Gear VR, or watch it on YouTube here:

The marketing agency Campfire was responsible for designing the physical Westworld booth experience at TechCrunch Disrupt, which created the feeling that Delos was a real travel agency. The actors running the booth were telling attendees that they were showing a virtual reality experience that featured one of their destinations, and so I didn’t have any idea that what I was about to see was really an immersive advertisement taking me into the surreal and dystopian world of a new HBO series starting on October 2nd.

Here’s some photos of the booth and the travel brochure they were handing out:

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Music: Fatality & Summer Trip