“Oneiro” is an animated movie in virtual reality by Serbian director Miloš Tasić, primarily designed for VR devices, which places the viewer directly in the 360-degree environment, providing a complete sense of immersion that is not present in traditional 2D films.
The film’s narrative satirically portrays the interaction of artificial intelligence programs with the average user, from the perspective of the program, offering insights into how it perceives humans.
The film is made in English in order to be universally understood by as many users as possible, for the reason that the VR scene is still very small but spread all over the globe, while currently there are only a few dozen VR films in the world.
Virtual reality currently allows only short formats, in order to eliminate the risk of causing dizziness and nausea which can occur when the VR device is used for more than half an hour. The film “Oneiro” is created with a duration of seven and a half minutes, which has proven to be the most suitable length for this type of content.
Although it is an animated film, it is important to emphasize that it is not intended for children because virtual reality devices are prohibited for children under the age of 12. For the same reason, the subject of the film is more geared toward adults, exploring human nature through dark humor.
Since for the last couple of years, one of the bigest news is the development of artificial intelligence and its impact on our society, I wanted to develop a narrative in which I would look at the topic from the opposite angle. If such a program were to become conscious in any way, what would its world look like and what would it actually think about humans? While I was researching this topic, I came across many similarities in how these programs learn and how the function of human dreams is explained in some articles, so I built the main part of the story around these parallels.
Virtual reality proved to be the perfect medium for this theme, because it allowed me to place the viewer directly in the perspective of the AI program where I could symbolically depict the processes which take place behind the screen while it’s interacting with humans. With the aim of presenting it as a kind of mirror to our species, where I could jokingly emphasize some of our flaws, in the hope that we will be encouraged to work on them so that we can be better towards ourselves, others and nature.
In the visual approach, I wanted to achieve an association with video games, with bright colors and a retro look of 3D objects to emphasize that the action takes place within a digital world which is very different from ours. The scenes themselves are heavily inspired by surrealism, which stems from the assumption that if an artificial intelligence program was conscious, it would not view the world visually, as we do, but in the form of abstract digital environments that create surreal worlds from data, much like our subconscious often creates abstract worlds in our dreams.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE PROJECT:
Certain segments of the film “Oneiro” will be featured in a music video for the Australian band “Echo Adore” for their song “Immunity Amulet.” Since I have been collaborating with their frontman, Damian Diggs, for several years, he lent me his computer for rendering scenes over the internet, and in return, I provided parts of the film for usage in their music video. What’s interesting is that the central part of the film is synchronized with the the voice of the main character, while also this part in the music video is synchronized with the lyrics and arrangement of their song.
The voice of artificial intelligence in the film was actually created using artificial intelligence program. Although in the last few years the voices generated by the programs are often identical to the recorded ones, in some parts, I emphasized its digital nature with sound effects to better fit the spirit of the story.
The entire film was made with a micro budget, while, apart from the use of certain 3D stock models and stock sound elements, I made it completely myself. Mostly out of a desire to show other creators that they don’t need expensive schools or courses to start working with this technology. All the knowledge is available on the internet, where I learned from, while there is also free software and loads of stock material that can be modified for one’s own needs. And yet again, the biggest problem with the VR scene in the world is scarcity of content in this technology.
ON VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY:
VR technology is based on the fact that the device displays in front of the eyes on two small screens the vision from the left and right eye, where the projection follows the direction of gaze in 360 degrees. In addition to the visual display, it has also ambisonic sound that follows the movement of objects in 3D space, giving the impression of complete presence in the digital environment.
While most of the VR video content, including this film, can be viewed on mobile phones through apps like YouTube, where the whole environment can be viwed by tilting the phone, as well as on an ordinary monitors or laptops, where viewers can use the mouse cursor or “WASD” keyboard keys to observe around. It’s important to emphasize that the experience cannot compare to the one when using a VR headset, which provides a complete sense of immersion that’s hard to explain to those who haven’t tried these devices before.
VR is currently the youngest art form, although the technology itself has been worked on since the 1960s, it only became widespread among the general population in 2015 due to the emergence of small consumer devices, and the industry has been steadily growing since. (In 2022, nearly 20 million VR headsets were sold, compared to less than 4 million in 2017. Source:
https://thesmallbusinessblog.net/vr-headset-sales-and-market-share/).
Currently it has the greatest popularity in the realm of video games, while the field of video and animated virtual reality is still dominated by content representing rollercoaster rides, flights through spaces, walks through tourist destinations and the like… Just like when at the beginning of of cinema, content primarily featured everyday scenes, where the main attraction was novelty being the act of viewing it on the big screen. Today most VR content consists of things that rely exclusively on the very sensation of experiencing virtual reality. It is for this reason that I believe that it is necessary to work on the creation of narrative content so that this type of art can grow and develop further.
Additionally, I have noticed that there is a concern among people that VR can become a form of addiction, which is potentially one of the reasons that slows its spread. This is exactly why I believe that we, as VR creators, need to ensure that our works convey positive messages to counterbalance the dominance of low-quality addictive video games and explicit sensationalistic content in this technology.
Virtual reality can provide relaxing, positive experiences that can improve people’s moods, and according to many studies, it can have a positive impact on mental health, particularly in preventing anxiety and depression (Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/vr-technology-mental-health/). We live in a world where there are too many substances that people reach for in those situations, so perhaps virtual reality can represent a healthier method of relaxation, even though I’m aware of how optimistic that may sound.
ABOUT AUTHOR
Miloš Tasić
Owner of the production company “Grof Industries”
Artistic Profile: Director and Animator
Education: Master in Film and Television production and Bachelor with Honours in Graphic Design
Born in 1988 in Niš, Serbia
Web-site: http://grof.industries
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GrofIndustries/
