A group of students from Tel Aviv University took part in a virtual reality showcase competition at the Cannes Film Festival last week.
The project of Yotam Tadmor and Tomer Meser, produced by Daniel Saar and in collaboration with Nuri Levi, Ilia Utochkin and Ohad Tadmor, was shown at the Cannes XR Development Showcase. The technical manager of the project was Daniel Prigorovner.
Their project is self-described as a VR virtual narrative game “which explores how society’s increasing use of new technologies can affect our control over our lives, by allowing the user the ability to be in the position of a police officer with a biohybrid body.”
The students went through a selection process with around 50 groups sending pitches in. They were then narrowed down to just six groups, and the TAU team was notified that it had been accepted just a week before the festival began.
The showcase was sponsored by Artizen – a “marketplace for artist grants,” which worked in collaboration with the organizers of the Cannes festival.
Saar said that being in Cannes and participating in the competition was a big step for the field of virtual reality in Israel.
“When people found out we were from Israel, it didn’t trigger hostilities; it triggered curiosity,” he said.
According to group members, there were many inquiries about the VR field in Israel, and potentially useful contacts were made with investors and content creators who attended the showcase.
The group is hoping to receive support from the Culture and Sport Ministry to further develop its project, which it hopes will become marketable.
It also hopes to organize other VR creators in Israel.
“We think that if we can create a union for all VR creators in Israel, we would all benefit,” said Saar.
The final results of the competition are not public yet, but the students are grateful for the opportunity regardless.
“For us, we have already won.”