Hammerhead is now
Dimension
Same teams. Same skills
New combined powers.
This weekend saw the premiere of two ABE micro-films, for Halloween.
Directed by Rob McLellan and produced by Dimension Studio, these virtual productions were produced using the latest in real-time virtual production techniques, with cast and crew working remotely over multi-user sessions using Unreal Engine's powerful VP tools.
These two episodes are part of ten episodes to be released over the coming year and will show glimpses of the world ABE now inhabits and teases of future ABE content to come, including the VR multiplayer escape room game.
Psychological thriller ABE was released as a short film in 2013 by director Rob McLellan. The live action production was ultimately viewed by over 7 million people. In 2016, director Rob McLellan teamed up with Dimension (formerly Hammerhead) to create ABE VR, a cinematic virtual reality experience based on the multi-award winning short film. It's the first ever virtual reality experience to be officially certified by the British Board of Film Classification (as a 15 age rating), and was selected for the BAFTA VR showcase.
The VR experience explored the emotional connection and heightened sense of empathy of VR as a storytelling medium – introducing new techniques to enhance the feeling of presence, such as eye tracking between ABE and the user, and the heightened sense of physical restriction the user experiences. Created in UE4, ABE VR is a virtual recreation of the original story of a misguided robot seeking the unconditional love of humans… at whatever cost.
At E3 in 2019, we announced that the ABE universe will grow with a location-based VR experience (LBE), featuring hyper-real humans captured at Dimension’s volumetric studios, a complementary continuation of the short film, and a traditional 3D home video game. In the coming months ahead of launch, these micro-films will tease new aspects of the world, through the eyes of ABE and his victims.