BBC Earth tests interactive animal documentary with Oculus

Ever taken the view of a beetle? In the new VR application from Oculus and BBC Earth you slip into the role of the bombardier beetle named Oogie. Together, the two companies are testing a new format: interactive animal documentaries.

Biology with a difference

The user steers himself, actually Oogie, through a minimally rendered landscape as in a usual video game. However, the goal is not primarily entertainment, but also to learn a little more about the little creepy-crawly. The beetle has two goals: Eating and chasing a female. Its task is to follow the scent trails of the female and to clear ants out of the way in the process. It does not bear its name for nothing, because it can defend itself against predators with a substance similar to acid, which it sprays from its rear end.

Interactive learning with the VR application

Those who immerse themselves in this application learn this and other information in a playful manner. The playful part is deliberately kept simple. This way, users can concentrate on the information and do not have to deal with complex movement manoeuvres. The actual learning trick is that you get to know Oogie's abilities by using them virtually as the beetle would do in its real beetle life.

For pupils in particular, the mix of play and learning experience should offer an exciting change at school. In VR, many channels are addressed, which makes it easier to absorb information. And since it is well known that people learn better when they have fun, this is all the easier.

The bonus

In addition, further video files are hidden in the three chapters. If you collect the clips, you unlock a 2D documentary that you can watch in a virtual cinema. In the classic style of BBC Earth, it shows visually stunning close-ups of the real Oogie. At this point, you are already familiar with the behaviour of the digital counterpart, so it is all the more exciting to look at the extremely detailed images of nature.

The idea of turning into a beetle is perhaps not all that sexy. But the perspective is all the more exciting for it. Oogie is at Oculus Home available exclusively for Oculus Rift.

Those who still don't want to start crawling have two alternatives: Because two other applications called Cat flight with the caracal (an Afro-Asian cat species) and Bear Island with a black bear are also already available.

Source: vrodo.de / BBC / Oculus