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Vast Media VR Round-Up: MTV, Discovery Tackle VR in Different Ways

Here’s a run-down of recent virtual reality-related entertainment items via Berlin-based research and consulting company Vast Media. Before the Nov. 8 election, MTV and Viacom NEXT launched the virtual reality art show “Open Your Eyes,” which featured digital art that had been created using Google’s 3D painting program Tilt Brush. Part of MTV’s “Elect This” campaign, many of the experiences had a political bent, covering gun control, rape culture and racism.

The 3D models are showcased on VR and 3D publishing platform Sketchfab, which can be viewed on Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard.

• Right before Halloween, Discovery Channel released its “Haunted Castle” scripted VR short film, available at DiscoveryVR.co, and the Discovery VR mobile app for Android and iOS. Available on the Gear VR, Rift and other devices, the film takes viewers on a tour of an old (and haunted) castle. Shot in Transylvania, the short film is in black and while.

• Just days before the Oct. 24 premiere of season seven of “The Walking Dead,” AMC premiered a 360-degree experience on its YouTube channel, putting the viewer in the middle of a herd of walkers.

• Game Show Network Oct. 7 released several 360-degree clips for its popular horror game show “Hellevator,” available on the network’s YouTube channel. The clips featured the show’s hosts Jen and Sylvia Soska, along with producer Jason Blum, who introduced fans of the show to new challenges and obstacles from the game show.

• For its 600th episode, “The Simpsons” got a virtual reality experience that had fun with the show’s opening credits couch gag. “Planet of the Couches” — available for Android and iOS devices — showed a world where couches rule the world, and people are enslaved by them.