( ENSPIRE Entertainment ) TIME Studios Project “The March” Is Virtual Reality Experience for Audiences
ENSPIRE Contributor: Jacara Watkins
Inspired by TIME’s project “The March” and developed by TIME Studios and Flight School Studio on Meta Quest 2, participants will have an interactive experience about housing inequality, racial profiling, and voter suppression. The virtual reality (VR) experience would take viewers on a journey, exploring important events of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech while focusing on systemic issues that affect our society today.
Through first-person stories and interactions, “MLK: Now is the Time” commemorates the celebrated life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and drops users into a thoroughly modern interpretation of a contemporary March on Washington that is sure to inform and inspire a new generation of activists. Audio from the “I Have A Dream” speech is layered throughout, culminating in a scene that depicts the continued legacy of Dr. King’s words through modern-day protests. Moreso, TIME’s The March is now available for the first time on Meta Quest 2 under the banner “The March360.” This immersive film brings the 1963 March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech to virtual reality for the first time.
This digital recreation offers participants the feeling of marching among over 250,000 people who witnessed Dr.King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Loren Hammonds, Co-Head of Documentary at TIME Studios believes VR helps connect audiences to important events in history and highlight “illuminating larger societal and global issues.” The film is adapted from TIME’s groundbreaking virtual reality exhibit, “The March” which debuted in February 2020 at the DuSable in Chicago and was made possible by presenting sponsor American Family Insurance and was produced in collaboration with Executive Producer Viola Davis and Juvee Productions, RYOT Studios, Valis, & Digital Domain.
“MLK: Now Is the Time” and “The March360” are both available now on Meta Quest 2 ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For more information, please visit time.com/nowisthetime.
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