Recap: What If – An Immersive Story at D23
At D23 2024, key creators of “What If…? – An Immersive Story” discussed how they brought the first-ever interactive Disney+ Original story to life on Apple Vision Pro. A first-of-kind collaboration between Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive, learn about how this story puts you in the center of an interactive story that’s connected to the “What If…?” series.
Panelists Dave Bushore, Maya Ramsey, Jonathan Harman, and David Dong discussed the story and creative process, wish fullfillment, bringing Marvel to spatial audio, inspiration for the gestures, and more.
As a highlight from the panel, here are some quotes regarding the storytelling and technology of the project.
This is a really interesting storytelling opportunity just because we allow the player to directly interact and make decisions. So many Marvel stories have themes of responsibility and what to do you do with the power you have – we gave the player the opportunity to live through that challenge.
– Maya Ramsey
Storytelling is the greatest invention that humanity has ever created – it’s how we communicate with each other.
– Dave Bushore
It’s fun to be on the leading edge of something where you don’t really know what’s next – in software, hardware, and the ability to tell new stories in interesting ways.
– Jonathan Harman
We also announced that the soundtrack for the experience would be released to the public, which is available now. Click below for more details.