A Leicester-based charity has announced one of the world’s first ‘VR for good’ film competitions with a significant cash prize.
Loros Hospice cares for over 2,500 terminally ill patients across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland each year and has been working with critically acclaimed VR studio CATS are not PEAS to develop its use of immersive VR with its patients and their families.
The I Experience VR competition, which has a total prize fund of £10,000 and includes a ‘Best of the Best’ top prize of £6,000, aims to attract a wide variety of immersive 360 films, all designed to provide LOROS Hospice patients with a short therapeutic respite from their current reality.
The I Experience VR competition is free to enter and will be judged in a number of different categories including indoor, outdoor, historical and musical.
Alex Rühl, director of CATS are not PEAS, said: “We’re really delighted to be involved with this competition – we think it’s a world first for a VR for Good film competition and it’s an opportunity to really harness the true power of virtual reality for those who need it most.
“We’re looking for some mesmerising 360 experiences. Beautiful landscapes, creative storytelling and never before seen access. We want these films to be therapeutic and easy to experience so we’re looking for technical excellence with terminally ill users in mind. I’d like to invite all filmmakers to get involved and be in with a chance to win a huge cash prize, as well as using their skills for good.”
Loros CEO, John Knight, added: “This is a really exciting project for us, and I believe we are the first Hospice in the country to develop our own VR project, I Experience VR, with the help of CATS are not PEAS. It has huge potential for patients, carers and families, to bring an interesting escape, a welcome distraction, a therapeutic experience or simply a bit of entertainment.”
The competition is open now until midnight on Friday 23 November 2018. In addition to the five top prizes, all entries judged to be taken forwards for inclusion in the I Experience VR library will all receive a Laurel in recognition of the high quality of their film and its potential to benefit Hospice patients.
