Full app of immersive 3D video will be available in February

Two teaser videos for Production I.G.'s Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijō-ban Virtual Reality Diver (Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie Virtual Reality Diver) virtual reality 3D experience began streaming on Tuesday. The first teaser shows a 2D video, while the second teaser is longer, and is shown in stereoscopic 3D with adjustable 360° point-of-view for those with the necessary hardware such as Google Cardboard.

Production I.G. showed a similar trailer at Tokyo Game Show 2015 in September.

The final 10-minute work will offer an original story in immersive 360° 3D video, which can be seen with a VR headset. The full app will be available next February. The full version is priced at 480 yen (about US$4).

The app will feature the following cast:

Makoto Kusanagi: Maaya Sakamoto

Batou: Kenichirou Matsuda

Logicoma: Miyuki Sawashiro

Okitatsu Oribe: Ryota Takeuchi

Yuri: Sayaka Ohara

Kōkaku Kidōtai Shin Gekijō-ban Virtual Reality Diver is part of Production I.G's new project titled "SIGN." The animation studio is collaborating with visual design studio WOW's Nobumichi Asai, who has background in 3D projection mapping, Toshiyuki Takahei, founder of dome video graphics design company Orihalcon Technologies, and Satoru Itoya, who has contributed to the development of camera and projection hardware for dome theaters. They are serving as creative director, technical director, and technical producer, respectively. Hiroaki Higashi is directing the project. Kazuchika Kise designed the characters, and Jun'ichi Fujisaku is credited with "construction." Both return from the Ghost in the Shell Arise and Ghost In The Shell: The New Movie anime.

Executive producer Mikio Gunji, producer Atsunori Maeshima, and assistant Hiroyuki Ogino from Production I.G are participating in the project.

With the project, Production I.G is aiming to create a bodily sensation of being in another world, and to combine futuristic technology with art.

Oculus VR has offered several prototypes of its Oculus Rift headset since the success of its Kickstarter in 2012. A consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset is slated to ship in the first quarter of 2016.