Painting reality

26 : 01 : 2017 Virtual Reality : Oculus : Futuretainment

US – A short film created using the Oculus Quill tool highlights the creative potential of virtual reality (VR).

  • Dear Angelica follows the story of a young girl who reconnects with her deceased mother by watching old films
  • Quill enables users to paint in VR on an infinitley scalable canvas
Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US
Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US
Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US
Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US Dear Angelica by Oculus Story Studio, US

Dear Angelica, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, is the first short film created using the Oculus Quill tool. Quill was developed especially for the project and is designed to enable a greater degree of artistic expression than other VR painting tools.

Users can paint in a range of different styles including watercolour, pencil and oil. The tool features a special function developed by visual effects supervisor Iñigo Quilez that tracks the user’s movements and plays them back, revealing the process behind the piece and giving viewers an inside look at the artist’s style and methods.

‘What you see in paintings is a window into someone’s artistic interpretation of the world. In VR you don’t see that persons point of view through a window – you are inside it,’ says director Saschka Unseld.

The Big Picture

The next wave of immersive VR projects such as Dear Angelica and Untethered are unlocking the potential of VR as an art medium, and inspiring new forms of storytelling.

Discover More Daily Signals
Why James Turrell is designing for awe in an age of attention fatigue

Daily Signals

Why James Turrell is designing for awe in an age of attention fatigue

ARoS Museum of Art in Aarhus will unveil As Seen Below on 19 June 2026, the largest Skyspace artist James Turrell has ever created within a museum ...
Design : Architecture : Art
F1 team names Anthropic's Claude as Official Thinking Partner

Daily Signals

F1 team names Anthropic's Claude as Official Thinking Partner

AI company Anthropic has announced a multi-year partnership with Atlassian Williams F1 Team, naming its AI model Claude as the team’s 'Official Thi...
AI : Sport : Technology
Stat: E-commerce enters the age of spontaneity as AI reshapes discovery

Daily Signals

Stat: E-commerce enters the age of spontaneity as AI reshapes discovery

A new consumer survey by AB Tasty highlights five e-commerce trends set to define winning strategies in 2026, pointing to a more spontaneous, AI-le...
Retail : Ecommerce : Online Shopping
Heineken leverages the power of fandom to spark friendship between strangers

Daily Signals

Heineken leverages the power of fandom to spark friendship between strangers

International brewer Heineken has launched Fans Have More Friends, a sponsorship platform built on the idea that shared passions are one of the fas...
Fandom : Sports : Drinks
Foresight Friday: Seyi Oduwole, foresight analyst

Daily Signals

Foresight Friday: Seyi Oduwole, foresight analyst

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals shaping culture right now. This week, foresight analyst Seyi ...
Bridgerton : Regency : Balls
Stat: Uptick in night-routine content reflects a shift towards protective wellness

Daily Signals

Stat: Uptick in night-routine content reflects a shift towards protective wellness

Night-routine content on TikTok rose 46% year-on-year in Q4 (October–December) 2025, reaching 13.2m weekly views, according to new research from Kyra.
Health : Wellness : Sleep
The Future Laboratory launches 2026 events calendar

Daily Signals

The Future Laboratory launches 2026 events calendar

The 2026 events calendar is here. Don’t just follow the future – get ahead of it. Join The Future Laboratory in 2026 for a programme of inspiring p...
The Future Laboratory : Events : Calendar
How diet sodas fell out of fashion

Daily Signals

How diet sodas fell out of fashion

Consumers are turning their backs on diet drinks, with zero sugar emerging as the preferred signifier of healthier indulgence.
Drink : Health : Food Retail
Stat: Alcohol abstinence in England rises as sober-curious lifestyles gain traction

Daily Signals

Stat: Alcohol abstinence in England rises as sober-curious lifestyles gain traction

Almost a quarter of adults in England (24%) now abstain from alcohol, marking a notable rise from previous years when non-drinkers consistently acc...
Drink : Stat : Statistics
How forpeople used bio-electrical tree data to shape Tree Aid’s rebranding

Daily Signals

How forpeople used bio-electrical tree data to shape Tree Aid’s rebranding

London-based creative studio forpeople has unveiled a pro bono rebranding for international development charity Tree Aid, placing living systems at...
Design : Nature : Technology
You have 1 free Daily Signals remaining. Sign up to LS:N Global to get unlimited access to all articles.
BECOME A MEMBER
SIGN IN