Jessica Brillhart, Immersive Director, on VR and AR

Company Founding & Strategy

• Founded Vrai Pictures (abbreviated "Vrai," meaning "true" or "real" in French) in January of this year.
• Left Google after eight years to escape the reactivity of large corporate entities and pursue creative projects personally deemed important.
• The company name reflects a belief that Visual Arts, Mixed Reality (AR/VR), and AI will converge into a single immersive ecosystem rather than remaining separate silos.

Background & Key Projects at Google

• Started as Google's first filmmaker in the Creative Lab before moving to the Google VR team as the principal filmmaker for VR.
• Developed the Google Jump live-action VR capture ecosystem in collaboration with engineers.
• Facilitated cross-team collaboration between the Google VR team and the Machine Learning/Google Brain team in Seattle.
• Spearheaded the visual component for Google Deep Dream, collaborating with AI researcher Blaise Aguirre-Arquez and Doug Fritz to visualize machine learning outputs in VR.
  • Integrated Ross Goodwin's AI systems to generate prose from Faulkner and Vonnegut texts, vocalized by an Irish-dialect AI voice named "Myra."
  • Determined the audio-visual combination created a "hell on earth" effect, leading to cautious usage.
• Created the Weather Channel VR project, a "VR GIF" made in a single day, designed to demonstrate comedy and the human condition within the medium without slapstick.

Philosophy on Storytelling & Mediums

• Distinguishes between kinetic story (traditional storytelling/telling) and potential story (crafting worlds where the user decodes the truth through interaction).
• Argues that in VR, the "telling" aspect is secondary to the "truth" or core value transmission; the story must be embedded in the environment.
• References Aesop's fables as a model: the moral (core value) matters more than the specific characters (turtle/hare) or narrative path.
• Draws parallels between immersive content and video games, citing The Beginner's Guide (Davey Reedan) and Florence (Ken Wong) for using interactivity and device limitations to convey narrative.
  • Notes The Beginner's Guide questions the narrator's relationship with the player.
  • Notes Florence uses phone interaction latency and swiping mechanics to simulate relationship friction.
• Critiques traditional "storytelling pills" (forced narrative) in favor of "exercise" (organic engagement) as a means to reach the emotional core.

Current & Future Projects (Vrai Pictures)

• Biopic Series: Currently in development with a major IP; specifically a music biopic series reimagining the artist's life as a VR journey rather than a traditional documentary.
• Architectural Project: An exploratory project involving a well-known architect to determine the utility of their work in mixed reality.
• Game Project: Developing a "fringe" game similar in spirit to the Weather Channel project, aiming to be a simple, retro-geometric "Pong for VR" to introduce users to the space.
• Immersive Audio Project: Focusing on audio-first experiences to bypass visual fidelity cycles and enhance spatial presence.
  • Identifies audio as a critical, often overlooked pillar for immersion, capable of being produced with high fidelity on older hardware.

Industry Trends & Technology

• Predicts that in 10 years, the term "VR" will likely disappear as technologies merge into a broader, unnamed immersive standard.
• Anticipates a convergence of AR and VR, where AR serves as the accessible entry point (via phones) and VR provides deep immersion.
• Observes that location-based entertainment (LBE) is a viable genre for high-fidelity, positional VR experiences.
• Warns against the "indexing of all memories" via VR, arguing for the poetic necessity of forgetting in the human experience.

Challenges & Social Dynamics

• Adaptation Strategy: Traditional storytellers must abandon "directing" camera angles and instead focus on "world-building" and allowing users to discover truth through spatial interaction.
• Social VR Risks: Acknowledges the "creep factor" and potential for harassment, noting that VR social dynamics carry heavier visceral weight than text-based chat rooms due to the emulation of physical presence.
• Ethical Concerns: Expresses caution regarding the use of virtual weapons, noting the responsibility of holding a virtual gun to someone's head differs significantly from holding a controller.
• Health & Accessibility: Notes personal need for glasses to correct stereo disparity in VR; suggests VR has potential for medical applications, such as pain management in hospital settings.

Personal Details

• Owns a German Shepherd mix named Fisher, adopted at five months old, who dislikes the creator wearing a VR headset.
• Previously filmed personal family memories using the Google Jump prototype for archival purposes.