TIME Announces Virtual Reality Experience Honoring the March on Washington and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

(LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK — January 24, 2019) – Today, TIME, the Emmy Award–winning global multimedia brand, RYOT, the Academy Award–nominated immersive media studio, and V.A.L.I.S.studio announced a new immersive virtual-reality project called The March, which will offer audiences an unprecedented opportunity to experience the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom from several points of view in groundbreaking room-scale, interactive virtual reality. In partnership with the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which granted development rights to TIME for the project, The March will mark the first-ever virtual depiction of Dr. King.

“Two of the most impactful use cases for virtual reality are historical re-creation and education. This project will allow us to bring audiences of all ages into one of the most pivotal moments of contemporary American history, with unparalleled realism,” said Mia Tramz, Emmy-winning VR producer and editorial director of Enterprise and Immersive Experiences at TIME. “We are excited to embark on this new project with our industry leading partners at RYOT and Peter Martin’s team at V.A.L.I.S.studio.”

The March is the second installment in TIME’s series of historical and educational VR experiences. Building off the first, Remembering Pearl Harbor, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the attack, The March will draw from the personal experiences of the organizers and participants of the March on Washington to present a layered and complex experience of this pivotal moment in history.

The March VR experience will be divided into three acts—“The March,” “The National Mall” and “The Speech”—and will use photogrammetry, motion capture and 3-D animation to create a volumetric interactive experience where participants will witness the crowd of 200,000+ peaceful protesters, and the locations and events of the historic day firsthand.

The centerpiece of The March will be the first-ever digital performance of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which will be produced using several state-of-the-art production technologies.

Production for The March will be based out of Los Angeles at RYOT’s Innovation Studio, and will combine several cutting-edge VR and VFX technologies to re-create the historic event and the people who participated in it.

“RYOT tells stories that spotlight key global and social issues in an effort to change the world, and we’re honored to re-create the legacy of one of the world’s most important humanitarians,” said Jake Sally, head of immersive development at RYOT. “By bringing Dr. King and the March on Washington to life through VR, we’re hoping to build a bridge between the physical and the virtual—giving viewers access to experience an event that altered the course of history as we know it.”

In partnership with museums and public venues, The March will be available as a location-based immersive experience in select public spaces beginning in 2020.

Further details about The March—including the assembly of a production team and an advisory board of experts, technologists, voices and talent—will be announced in the coming months.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) orchestrated the deal on behalf of RYOT and TIME.

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About TIME

TIME is a global multimedia brand that reaches a combined audience of more than 100 million around the world. A trusted destination for reporting and insight on the people, places and issues that matter, TIME captures the events that shape our lives. TIME’s major franchises include the TIME 100 Most Influential People, Person of the Year, Firsts, Best Inventions, Genius Companies, World’s Greatest Places and more. With 45 million digital visitors each month and 40 million social followers, TIME is one of the most trusted and recognized sources of news and information in the world.

ABOUT RYOT

RYOT is Verizon Media’s Emmy Award®–winning content studio and innovation lab that brings astonishing storytelling, immersive experiences and groundbreaking technology to every corner of the world. From XR experiences to advertising and content technology in a 5G world, RYOT is the incubator of innovation and is revolutionizing the next generation of content creation. In 2018, RYOT launched a state-of-the-art motion-capture studio with the mission to create new content formats of the future. The cutting-edge technology housed in RYOT’s Innovation Studio elevates the way content is created and continues to move the company far ahead of the technological curve. Highlights include Emmy Award® nominations for the AR project L.A. Louvre and VR project Behind the Fence.