[VR Experience] '9.6 Billion Won Production' ISS Content... Feeling Like an Astronaut Floating Around, Overwhelmed by the Blue Earth

LG U+ Unveils VR Content 'Uju Moheomgadeul: Space Station Experience' - Immersive 360-Degree 3D Video... First Project of 'XR Alliance'

A scene from the virtual reality (VR) content 'Uju Moheomgadeul: Uju Jeonggeojang Gyeongheom' released by LG Uplus.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Putting on a virtual reality (VR) headset and clicking the play button, the universe unfolded right before my eyes as I sat in the room. A place where the sun rises and sets 16 times a day. At first, it felt like watching a 3D movie on a big screen. I was just staring blankly at the vast and dark universe from what looked like an airplane cockpit.

I lowered my head without much thought when Christina, a NASA astronaut, was talking about her arrival at the International Space Station (ISS). Suddenly, a wave of emotion overwhelmed me. The blue Earth, which I thought was the floor, spread out before my eyes.

Episode 1 of the VR content "Space Explorers: The ISS Experience," recently released by LG Uplus, captures the adaptation period astronauts go through upon arriving at the ISS, along with the joy and wonder they feel. It was as if I had become an astronaut myself, experiencing the 59th expedition team and various parts inside the space station together.

I wore Pico’s tethered (phone-connected) VR headset supporting 4K resolution and connected to the U+VR application to select Episode 1. The playback time was 29 minutes and 26 seconds. It wasn’t 100% clear as if I were seeing it directly with my own eyes, but the 360-degree 3D video added vividness. When astronaut Anne quickly approached me in the dark space, I instinctively dodged. When David’s removed shoes floated around, even knowing it was VR footage, I reached out my hand.

The strength of VR content, called the "flower of 5G mobile communication," is not just the realistic 3D video. You can move your head at will and directly see what you want to see. If I hadn’t lowered my head while listening to Christina’s story, I wouldn’t have seen the beautiful Earth.

An astronaut is catching a cracker slowly approaching toward them. This is a scene of a "zero-gravity meal" possible only in outer space.

Despite the Korean subtitles constantly following my view, there were many moments when I felt as if I were really in the same space with the astronauts. When David made eye contact and told his story, or when we sat closely together enjoying a "zero-gravity meal," I momentarily forgot that I was watching VR footage. I unconsciously moved my body toward them, then suddenly realized the distance in my field of view and corrected my posture.

For someone like me who only thought of VR content as virtual meetings with stars or short 3D music performances, this content was astonishing. The area where you can directly see and feel while sitting in a room has now expanded all the way to space. The production cost alone was a whopping 9.6 billion KRW. As the first project of the world’s first 5G content alliance "XR Alliance," led by LG Uplus, it is only available in Korea through the U+VR service exclusively for 5G subscribers. Episodes 2, 3, and 4 will be released sequentially in the future.

However, the weight of the device worn on the head and the occasionally blurred subtitles when moving posture still hinder immersion. Turning my head here and there out of curiosity and focusing caused fatigue. The 30 minutes of Episode 1 seems to be the maximum appropriate time. After using the VR device for about 30 minutes, the phone battery, which was 100% charged, dropped below 80%.