Experience a VR alpine skiing thrill-ride with Samsung and Bode Miller

Take a breathtaking ride down the side of a mountain without any of the effort required with this Virtual Reality experience from Samsung, featuring legendary alpine ski racer Bode Miller.

Designed for Samsung’s Gear Headset as a 4D experience, the film is available online and as an immersive experience at Samsung 837, the tech giant’s digital playground in New York City.

Miller narrates the video, first taking the viewer down a professional slalom track at breakneck speeds, explaining the skills needed to successfully navigate the course. Then the film shifts to backcountry heli-skiing, which requires a whole different set of skills to stay safe in the dangerous conditions.

The video is a great example of Virtual Reality being pushed to its limits to create engaging and informative content that also has the possibility to amaze, while giving you the sinking feeling in your stomach from the heights and speeds involved.

Samsung VR|Anatomy of Ski|Bode Miller

The Nerdwriter provides us with another brilliant video essay, this one breaking down how the character of Darth Vader became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture despite being on screen for just 34 minutes…

Taking a deep look into Vader’s screen-time in the original trilogy of Star Wars films, the video essay studies the way the villains now-unmistakeable visual style was built up through the use of colour and silhouette, adding to the character’s intrigue.

Not just focusing on the costume and general visual style of the character, the video looks into the different spins put onto Vader by the directors of each film in the trilogy, from the dark and shadowy way Vader was first presented in A New Hope through the grubbier, more battered version of the character seen in the final instalment Return of the Jedi.

Darth Vader|The Nerdwriter|Video Essay