#1556: “Currents” Boldly Defines a New Era of DIY 180-Degree Immersive Filmmaking with a Kit Under $5k

CURRENTS is a stunning debut from Jake Oleson as it pushes the grammar of 180 filmmaking to new heights. Oleson comes from the world of advertising and music videos, and he went through a rigorous pre-production process where he had actually already edited the entire piece before shooting any production footage by using still stereoscopic test photos and videos. The insights from this pre-production animatic are evident, as there are some of the most stylized movements I’ve seen, and he managed to not trigger any of the common motion sickness triggers. There are some really powerful cuts that seamlessly juxtapose different environmental contexts for dramatic effect. CURRENTS tells the story of a young woman who leaves her Vietnam rural countryside home to the city seeking more economic opportunity. Aside from a short exchange with her mother at the beginning, the rest of the entire story is told through spatial storytelling, driving electronic music that was also composed by Oleson, and a shader-filled point-cloud scene with some animated motion capture. It's really quite a beautiful piece that gave me a glimpse of the next phase of cinematic immersive filmmaking. It's also worth mentioning CURRENTS in the context of other musical experiences since Oleson is both a musician who has a background in music video production. The music was specifically composed to serve the narrative in this instance, but it will be interesting to see more and more immersive music videos start to crop up now that the Apple Immersive video format is starting to get licensed out to folks like Vimeo, who commissioned this piece. Apple's push for 180-degree immersive video has brought up some broader discussions about the merits and downsides to 360-degree films. From a creator's point of view, 180-degree filmmaking is a lot easier to do logistically as it is closer to existing production pipelines, which is brilliantly demonstrated in CURRENTS. It's also worth noting that CURRENTS has a point-cloud scene that shows up in the middle of their cinematic 180-degree immersive video that represents a key turning point in the story and journey of the main protagonist. There's also some really poetic shaders that are translating the static scenes into even more of a dynamic visual representation of the business and chaos of the city. It has quite a narrative impact when juxtaposed against the photorealistic footage and custom-written and driving musical score. Even though the Apple Vision Pro has been out for over a year now, SXSW is still an opportunity for folks to check out the Apple Vision Pro for the first time. It was probably easiest to check out on CURRENTS who had six different headsets and was using the Sandwich Vision Theater app in Kiosk mode to seamlessly jump into the experience bypassing the time-consuming eye tracking calibration step. I was also particularly interested in Olson's production pipeline, the camera gear and kit costing less than $5k (Canon EOS R5 Camera Body, RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye, & DJI Ronin-SC Gimbal Stabilizer), Topaz Video AI Enhancer upscaling tools to go from 8k to 16k, and all of the due diligence that he did to understand and mitigate motion sickness triggers. The end result feels like a music video that tells a timeless story of the tension between rural and urban homes and what is lost in the pursuit of career opportunities. Below are links to of all of my SXSW 2025 coverage by the Voices of VR podcast. And be sure to check out this Linked article: Recap of All SXSW XR Experiences Including Voices of VR Podcast Interviews with Every Artist. SXSW XR Experience Competition [Overview of all of the SXSW 2025 XR Experience Program] - #1529: SXSW 2025 XR Experience Selection Sneak Peak with Programmer Blake Kammerdiener 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre - #1548: 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre Uses Phone-Based AR to Volumetrically Tell a Forgotten History Any War Any Enemy - #1490: “Any War Any Enemy” is a Beautiful Anti-War, Immersive Poem About Nuclear Annihilation Cosmos in Focus - #1554: Cosmos in Focus Contextualizes James Webb Telescope Images in Educational Immersive Planetarium Experience Currents - #1556: Currents Boldly Defines a New Era of DIY 180-Degree Immersive Filmmaking with a Kit Under $5k Face Jumping - #1532: Tenderclaws' "Face Jumping" Explores the Frontiers of Eye-Tracked Locomotion in Poetically Surreal Short Honey Fungus - #1549: Honey Fungus Cultivates Intimacy with Nature through Embodied Actions Inspired by Fungi and Queer Ecology In the Current of Being - #1531: In the Current of Being Uses Immersive Haptics to Tell the Story of Electroshock Conversation Therapy Proof As If Proof Were Needed - #1543: Proof As If Proof Were Needed Enables Audiences to Collaboratively Edit Video Feeds via Embodied Movements Reflections of Little Red Dot - #1539: Wandering in Open World Doc Archives in Mixed Reality with SXSW XR Jury Prize Winner "Reflections of Little Red Dot" Shelter - #1545: Shelter Observational 360 Documentary Shows Intimate Side of War via Ukrainian Citizen Bomb Shelters [The Choice Chapter 1] - #1075: Stereoscopic Compositing Innovations & “The Choice” Interactive Documentary Exploring Reproductive Rights in Texas The Choice - Chapters 2 and 3 - #1547: Simulating One-on-One Conversations about Abortion Experiences to Change Minds with "The Choice - Chapters 2 & 3" The Last Practice - #1542: Exploring the Paradox of Narratively Critiquing AI While Also Using AI to Make "The Last Practice" The Secret Life of Monsters - The Gateway Experience - #1538: Mixed Reality Calibration Innovations Hidden within "The Secret Life of Monsters: The Gateway Experience" Traces: The Grief Processor - #1544: Traces: The Grief Processor Immersive Documentary Invites Groups to Learn About Grief Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History - #1546: How Indigenous Storytelling is Changing Non-Proliferation Narratives in "Ways of Knowing: A Navajo Nuclear History" SXSW XR Experience Spotlight Address Unknown: Fukushima Now - #1438: Honoring the Memory of Abandoned Ghost Towns with “Address Unknown: Fukushima Now” All I Know About Teacher Li - #1452: Immersive Documentary about Chinese Censorship “All I Know About Teacher Li” Tops Venice Immersive Audience Favorites Survey Ancestors - #1507: From Selfies to Virtual Offspring, “Ancestors” Turns Strangers into Family and Intergenerational Speculative Futures Anouschka - #1334: “Anouschka” Wins IDFA DocLab Digital Storytelling Award with AR Narrative Game about Cultural Heritage [Oyrza from DocLab 2024, but also some more discussion about Anouschka] - #1540: Hacking AI for Black Representation & the Future Dreaming of Archival Collections with Tamara Shogaolu A Number From the Ghost - #1533: Web Developer Built "A Number from the Ghost" WebXR Adventures to Highlight His Music EchoVision - #1550: EchoVision Answers the Question 'What is it like to see like a bat?' with Mixed Reality, AI, & Haptics Fly To You - #1552: Fly to You Explores Stories of Separated Families in Division of Korea Using Point Clouds & 360 Video Future Botanica - #1514: Creating GenAI Flower Ecosystem with “Future Botanica” AR App Just for You Trilogy All That Remains - #1126: Re-creating Experimental Theatre 1:1 Encounters via 360 video with “All That Remains” Over the Rainbow - #1250: Translating 1:1 Experimental Theatre Encounters into 360 Video to Transcend Expectations with Craig Quintero A Simple Silence - #1422: “A Simple Silence” Wraps Up Craig Quintero’s Trilogy Exploring Spatial Transformations & Immersive Encounters Origins - Life's Epic Journey - #1553: The Story of Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig, and the Multi-Channel Video Translation of "Origins - Life's Epic Journey" Oto's Planet - #1555: Award-Winning Tabletop Animation "Oto's Planet" Uses Unique Interactive Mechanic to Chose Perspective Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul - #1534: Animated Immersive Dome Experience "Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul" Created as an Album Listening Party Sweet! - #1541: Virtual Being Engages in Socratic Monologue Comparing AI to Sugar in "Sweet!" Installation Symphoni - #1551: Breaking Down the Game Design of New Conducting-Inspired, Hand-Tracked, Rhythm Game "Symphoni" The Art of Change - #1446: Studio Syro’s “The Art Of Change” is the Best Immersive Music Video Experience I’ve Seen So Far Pushing at the Edges of Spatial Grammar Uncanny Alley: A New Day - #1442: Combining VRChat Worldbuilding with Immersive Theatre Storytelling in “Uncanny Alley: A New Day” [Ristband Spatial Audio Experience] - #1535: Roman Rappak's 4th Annual "Ristband" SXSW Live Music Mixed Reality Performance Adds Spatial Audio [Spatial audio trends] - #1536: d&b audiotechnik's Artist Relations Manager Wayne Powell on Spatial Audio Trends NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) - #1537: NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) Uses Low-Bit Visuals & Hundreds of Spatial Audio Speakers to Tell a Moving Story This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality