‘Space Explorers’ receives Emmy for virtual reality space station experience

A series on the International Space Station on the theme of virtual reality has just received an Emmy.

“Space Explorers: The ISS Experience” brought together the creators Felix & Paul Studios, in association with Time studios, a Primetime Emmy Award for an outstanding interactive program. The four-part series premiered in 2020, featuring exclusive footage of eight astronauts working aboard the orbiting complex.

The series was shot over two years with specially designed cameras. The result was a series of “scenes” with a central point, where the action was defined. Members of the audience with virtual reality headsets, however, could rotate their eyesight to look around even as the story unfolded.

Related: Facts, History and Tracking of the International Space Station

“I was completely blown away by how I felt like I was back in space, and ever since I returned [to Earth] In mid-April of this year, I wanted and missed that feeling, so it was amazing, ”NASA astronaut Jessica Meir said of the experience.“ I didn’t want to. not remove it. I just wanted to stay there, floating in the dome and looking out the window and remembering what it looked like. “

This is the studio’s third prestigious televised award win, following “The People’s House: Inside the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama” and “Inside the Box of Kurios”.

“We use this medium to take people where they can’t go,” Felix Lajeunesse, co-founder and creative director of Felix & Paul Studios, told collectSPACE.com. “For us, that doesn’t necessarily mean creating a fully interactive experience where we ask the audience to press buttons and do other things like in a game. We stay on the side of a cinematic experience, where what what we’re really trying to do is nurture a sense of presence for our audience. ”

The show received the Emmy at the 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held in Los Angeles on September 11 and 12, and was announced on Sunday, September 19 during the prime-time Emmy ceremonies.

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