Expedition Everest VR series
National Geographic
Experience life at the top of the world as scientists spearhead an effort to map climate change in the upper Himalayas. Throughout the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Expedition to Mount Everest in 2019, Martin Edström and his team from IVAR Studios captured the scientific mission of the landmark venture in two 360-videos for National Geographic’s VR channels.
We wanted to create the experience of standing in the field with the scientists and climbers on Mount Everest itself - as if you were there - while learning about the key components of their climate change research.
The Story
Embark on this virtual reality experience with an international coalition of biologists, geologists, glaciologists, meteorologists, and geographers as they study the effects of climate change in one of the most extreme environments on Earth.
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The National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition begins at 17,300 feet at Base Camp and ends above 27,000 feet, near the summit of Mt. Everest. Join the team as they collect ice cores, place the world’s highest weather station, and gather hundreds of samples along the way. Part of the series features the voice of Pete Athans, one of the world’s foremost high-altitude mountaineers. Serving as the chief climber and safety manager of the expedition, his voice lends both authenticity and perspective to the episode, bringing his experience of climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas in the last several decades.
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Services we have provided
Story development
We specialize in developing stories for immersive formats, letting the audience step into the story and interact with it.
Immersive production
We capture, produce and publish content within all fields of the immersive space - from 360-video to interactive virtual reality.
3D and Reality Capture
We bring back high-resolution 3D assets from all over the world, using photogrammetry, lidar and reality capture.
End user experience
The 2-part series lets people step into the exhilarating world of a scientific high-altitude expedition. You get to stand with the scientists and climbers on Mount Everest itself, and hear about the key components of their climate change research. It’s a world-class learning experience about bleeding-edge technology and science featuring epic visuals from the highest mountain on the planet.
Impact
The stories have been widely used in VR theaters and in classrooms as well as online, and premiered at a select few venues in 2020-2022 including the X-games in Aspen as part of the National Geographic Live! lineup. The series have multiple Webby awards, an Anthem award and the National Press Photographer’s Association annual competition Best of Photojournalism in 2021.
Get in touch
Do you want to learn more about immersive storytelling? Perhaps you already have a project idea?