Set on the open ocean in 1900, Age of Sail is the story of William Avery (voiced by Ian McShane), an old sailor adrift and alone in the North Atlantic. When Avery reluctantly rescues Lara, who has mysteriously fallen overboard, he finds redemption and hope in his darkest hours.

Google Spotlight Stories’ Age of Sail is a real time, interactive, multiple platform cinematic story released on the Google Spotlight Stories app for mobile VR with Google Daydream and Cardboard, Steam VR & Viveport VR with Oculus Rift & Vive headsets, and on YouTube as a linear 360° or 2d theatrical story.

Age of Sail is Google’s 16th production and the most ambitious and immersive Spotlight Story premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2018.

Age of Sail set out to question, and answer how to immerse the audience in one of the most challenging of virtual environments...a constantly moving boat set adrift on the open ocean...without the usual accompanying motion sickness.

Central to our approach is the observation that in VR, where the audience has the freedom to look and experience whatever they choose, it is essential to manage, and respond properly to, the audience’s attention. This can be achieved through a combination of reactive visual cues, immersive sound design, and real-time interactivity. The result is a story that adapts to each viewer’s experience, while still remaining true to its core narrative.

In addition, the team developed a number of new tools and storytelling techniques displayed in Age of Sail including layered spatial binaural audio and immersive ambisonic spherical audio while developing a virtual camera that operates similarly in concept to a steadicam by compensating for the boat’s inherent pitch and yaw movements experienced from the viewer’s perspective.