China’s Monkey King Fantasy Character Gets VR Series

PLAYA VISTA: Digital Domain has prepped an original virtual-reality series around the Chinese action-fantasy property The Monkey King.

Digital Domain, which specializes in visual effects and immersive experiences, teamed up with HTC VIVE and Qualcomm Technologies on the project. Monkey King marks the studio’s first cinematic VR experience. The epic fantasy places the mythological Chinese character in a lush 360-degree environment.

A sneak preview of the VR series is on offer at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

“HTC Vive and Qualcomm Technologies are providing consumers with powerful technologies for experiencing the full potential of virtual reality,” said Daniel Seah, CEO of Digital Domain. “CES attendees using Vive headsets and headsets powered by Snapdragon processors can enjoy VR experiences that are more responsive and immersive than was ever before possible. We are very glad to work with these companies to share our Monkey King sneak preview at CES.”

“It’s our pleasure to work with Digital Domain to unveil its sneak preview of Monkey King,” said Raymond Pao, the VP of VR new technology at HTC. “The renowned artists at Digital Domain bring imagination to life in stunning detail, and high-quality content like the Monkey King experience will inspire consumers to make VR entertainment a part of their everyday lives. We believe that computer-generated experiences like Monkey King will help usher the entertainment industry into a new era, bringing immersive visual experiences to captivated audiences.”

“Our new flagship Snapdragon 835 processor is designed to meet the demanding requirements of advanced, highly engaging mobile virtual-reality content like Monkey King, on thin and light mobile designs,” said Dave Durnil, the senior director of the advanced content group at Qualcomm Technologies. “VR will be a new paradigm for how we interact with the world, and we’re excited to work with mobile VR developers like Digital Domain to help them deliver compelling and high-quality experiences on upcoming Snapdragon smartphones and headsets.”