iQIYI Launches World's First Virtual Reality Game Show Memoon Player

BEIJING, Dec. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, released the virtual reality (VR) variety game show Memoon Player with the first episode airing on Dec. 9. An iQIYI original production, Memoon Player invites viewers to join the show participants on their exciting adventure in the VR-constructed setting of "Memoon land," a virtual space based on actual geographic regions on the Moon but created through VR technologies.

Viewers were excited about the show even before its airing, with over 1.2 million viewers indicating their interest on the iQIYI app before the show's premiere.

The first episode featured show participants putting on their motion capture suits and entering their avatars into the virtual landscape, where the avatars interacted, competed in games, and even performed on the virtual stage.

Released in conjunction with the show was the "Memoon Land" APP, a virtual interactive space designed to offer users a fully immersive viewing experience with integrated social elements. The app allows the viewers to not only join the show participants in their adventure, but also be part of the games, interact with other viewers, and even purchase show-inspired merchandise.

Memoon Player showcased a seamless transition between the virtual and real worlds, which was enabled by an array of virtual production technologies, including virtual shooting, virtual games, XR, and holography. A production team of 110 engineers, more than 50 visual designers, and over 60 animators participated in the making of the show. With help from the industry's top optical motion capture equipment, the team built a motion capture studio that can take in the motions of up to eight avatars at one time, with the points of capture for each avatar exceeding a thousand. Working with top industry players including Qualcomm, Baidu, QIYU VR, and others, the team also installed over 20 workstations for virtual human skeletal orientation and UE real-time rendering.

CHEN Wei, Senior Vice President of iQIYI, chief producer and chief director of Memoon Player, pointed to three features that set the variety show apart: "The show is, first and foremost, joyful, and it brings users much laughter, which is the most fundamental element of entertainment. With its brand-new format unseen in other variety shows, Memoon Player also encourages adventure and imagination from not just the creative team but also the viewers. The show is also ground-breaking as the players connect to their avatars and enter the parallel world which provides an unprecedented viewing experience."

Memoon Player is not just an exciting experiment in the realm of variety shows but also an embodiment of the endless possibilities in the future of entertainment. Steadfast in driving tech-enabled innovation, iQIYI has previously launched a number of VR-integrated entertainment projects including The Last One Standing VR, the first sci-fi VR production in China, and THE9's "X-City" Concert, the world's first extended reality (XR) live concert on cinematic class LED stage with photorealistic virtual production. Going forward, the company remains dedicated to helping usher in the new era of entertainment defined by the integration of technology and IPs.

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