Observe the launch of the mission rocket Artemis 1 from the comfort of your own home, as if you were there? This is what the Quebec company Felix & Paul Studios is offering, which will film the event live and in 360° virtual reality.
It is a historic moment that the Montreal creative studio, which notably produced the immersive series Space Explorers, will be able to capture. Fifty years after the last flight of the program Apollo, Artemis 1 is the first mission of the American program to return to the Moon.
The launch, scheduled for Monday August 29 and postponed due to technical problems, could take place on Saturday September 3, according to the latest information from the American space agency, NASA.
The experience, filmed by Felix & Paul Studios, will be broadcast in a hundred domes around the world and will also be available on the Facebook page of Space Explorers. Those equipped with a virtual reality headset will be able to use it to live a complete experience, but it is not necessary to have one to enjoy it.
Attending this event in an immersive way will provide a “unique experience”, says Félix Lajeunesse, creative director of Felix & Paul Studios, in an interview with the To have to.
Close ties with NASA
The company has worked closely with NASA since 2016, when the franchise was created Space Explorerswhich chronicles human exploration of space in virtual reality.
“We did two first episodes from 2016 to 2018, which were shot on Earth. And then, from 2019 until very recently, we sent virtual reality cameras into space, on the International Space Station, to document the lives of astronauts over a period of almost three years,” explains Mr. Lajeunesse, who points out that this requires state-of-the-art equipment: cameras that can adapt to temperature changes, but also lenses that are sufficiently resistant to the power of the sun’s rays…
“It’s the biggest media project that’s ever been done in space — and it was done by our studios,” he says. This material was also used for the exhibition infinitywhich took place last year in Montreal — an exhibition allowing the public to move inside the International Space Station, in virtual reality, and which is now touring the United States.
“Everything we’ve done with NASA, working so closely with astronauts, has opened doors for us. This is where the desire to document the Artemis missions in virtual reality was born. We have already started filming the training process for astronauts who will go to the Moon,” says Mr. Lajeunesse.
The Montreal company, which was founded in 2013 and now has around 60 employees, has more than 35 virtual reality, cinematographic and interactive projects to its credit – including collaborations with Cirque du Soleil , with the former president of the United States Barack Obama, or with the famous American basketball player LeBron James.