Page 52 - AVN January 2016

FEATURE
The Holodexxx booth at January’s 2016 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. Photo by JFK/FUBARWebmasters.com
non-360 are smaller file sizes which can speed downloads; the difficulty in creating
360-degree content, since that means that non-working talent, director or crew
can’t be shown; and the fact that few users will necessarily want to turn their
bodies fully around so they can see what’s happening behind them—unless, as
Paul notes, they’re watching gay male content. (Why that’s so is left as an exercise
for the reader.)
“Honestly, it’s up to the preference of the person, but for me, it’s up to the
scene that we’ve shot,” commented HoloFilm president Anna Lee when asked
about the issue. “If you’re going to shoot a huge scene with a bunch of wonderful,
beautiful women around you, you’re going to want to do it in 360. But also
understand that the viewer can only watch that sitting up and rotating. If you’re
going to do a POV, 180 is sufficient for that, but honestly, it really depends on
the nature of the scene and what you want the viewer to do and how the viewer’s
going to enjoy the entertainment. So I think, with our company, we offer all three
formats—180, 220 and 360—and we let the viewer decide which one works best
for them.”
“Every shoot, we improve our skills; every shoot,
we improve our posts. More and more beautiful
women want to work with us, so you’re just going
to see more amazing content coming out of us.”
—Anna Lee, president, HoloFilm Productions
Considering that the first commercial use of VR was gaming, using animated or
rotoscoped “avatars” in computer-created worlds, one of the big advances in VR
that was showcased at this year’s AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) was the
proliferation of scenes featuring actual females rather than animated characters—
and we asked HoloFilm’s Lee whether that was VR’s future?
“Yes, 100 percent,” she said, though adding, “I actually see a combination of the
two happening, where we have photo-realistic 3D renderings of the girls that you
can manipulate and make your own interactions with, so last year was all about
working with animation and motion capture; this year is about live women and
men, and I hope to see the both of them merge in the future.”
Lee said that HoloFilm is also working on a VR system that will allow users to
recline, yet still see action occurring as if they were sitting up.
“We’ve shot some of those scenes that have yet to be released,” she said. “I shot
a scene last night with Cherie DeVille, and two nights before with Anikka Albrite,
where you can lie down and the girl will be on top of you, so that’s going to be
very good stuff.”
We also asked Lee what’s in HoloFilm’s immediate future: “We are just going to
keep producing awesome content and getting better and better and better. Every
shoot, we improve our skills; every shoot, we improve our posts. More and more
beautiful women want to work with us, so you’re just going to see more amazing
content coming out of us.”
HoloFilm has also launched an affiliate program, which can be joined from their
website, HoloCashVR.com.
Also on hand at AEE was VR Bangers, which recently made national
news when it announced that it would be partnering with several hotel
casinos in Las Vegas to deliver VR directly to guests’ rooms, using the
new AuraVisor headset, described as “a self-contained Android device
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“Adult is not only leading, it’s
creating demand, passion,
enthusiasm, interest.”
—Todd Glider, CEO, BaDoink
lack of competition as compared to other areas of adult gives affiliates who are
early entrants to the market an incredible advantage and an opportunity to achieve
significant market share before the space becomes saturated. Everything we are
developing right now, with respect to VR technology, is 100 percent cutting edge.”
In some ways the rise of VR may also be an opportunity for adult to take the
lead in regard to how the new technology is utilized for producing and consuming
fresh content. “Although in the past adult has pushed the envelope with respect to
development, I believe that we have taken an approach where we allow mainstream
to prove the effectiveness of hardware before we adopt it,” said Bradbury. “With VR
we are sourcing new equipment and utilizing it in ways that were never expected,
even by the developers and manufacturers. Currently, I’m working with several
hardware developers on projects that involve technologies that are no further
ahead in the mainstream world than they are in adult. I think mainstream has done
an incredible job this time around with respect to providing a low barrier to entry
for those who want to create content that can be viewed in a virtual environment
and I think that will prove to be a big part of the staying power for VR this time
around. Adult content producers however, are able to create features that take full
advantage of what today’s VR technology has to offer, at a much lower cost than
a mainstream production.
Because of that, adult
content is likely to be one of
the most available sources
of new material for those
interested in VR and will be a
driving force with respect to
consumers investing in the
technology.”
BaDoink VR has been early into the market with its own virtual reality offerings
for adults, but when asked about their moves CEO Todd Glider saw the possibility
of being too early as a much better move than the reality some companies will
face when they find out they are too late. “The adult VR market is very, very green,
largely because the entire VR space is even greener,” said Glider. “Honestly, if
you’re someone with a 99-cent pair of Google Cardboard, you are an early adopter.
Early majority? That on-ramp is still miles down the road. Affiliates are definitely
encouraged to begin promoting VR, but there’s a huge caveat: you’ve got to
educate the consumer to some extent before pushing them to a VR porn site.”
Brian Shuster, CEO of HoloFilm Productions, LLC and HoloGirlsVR.com, agreed
that it might be early for some affiliates to cash in on virtual reality sites even though
others are already doing quite well. “The issue for general affiliates is that there is
not a high enough ratio of website visitors who have a headset to justify running ads
for VR websites—even though the conversion rates are spectacular,” said Shuster.
“Of course, VR blogs or technology-focused websites are making a killing with their
traffic right now. The takeaway is that VR converts very well, but it’s a very shallow
market as of today.”
That gap between the tech savvy of marketers and consumers was evident during
the run-up to mobile, and didn’t really get solved until Apple taught the world
about the iPhone. Now, with VR a similar level of customer education will be needed
before consumers catch up with producers.
AVN Hall of Fame producer/director Colin Rowntree of Wasteland.com is already
experimenting with the cinematic possibilities of new VR-adapted storytelling.
“I directed our first VR movie last week for our FemDomBride.com reality series
and see it as an opportunity to explore 360-degree storytelling as a cinematic
experience,” said Rowntree. “What appeals to me is that in this format (as opposed
to 180-degree POV sex experiences that other producers are creating) is the
ability to transition the audience from being a passive viewer to an active audience
member who is able to look around as if they were actually on the set during
shooting. It does present some real challenges, as literally everything filmed on the
set is viewable, so maintaining the immersive quality of the content without having
crew and gear visible is something we are overcoming with a good deal of creativity.
The key is that VR gives the audience member the freedom to watch what is most
compelling to them from moment to moment, and that keeps fans fully engaged in
the action of a narrative drama in ways that are impossible with traditional film.”
Getting the most out of the medium requires a combination of leading gear,
creative filmmaking and figuring out the answers to technical questions that haven’t
been asked before on any film set. That’s lead in VR film content.
part of the reason why adult is taking the
“Adult is leading in VR. There’s no denying it. Adult is The Killer App for VR, hands
down,” said Todd Glider of BaDoink. “Adult is not only leading, it’s creating
demand, passion, enthusiasm, interest. Gaming will one day leapfrog over
us, and carry that Killer App torch, but right now, games in VR are anemic.