In April the OTOY studio which makes rendering software for virtual reality announced a new contest called Render The Metaverse that was sponsored by Oculus. The idea behind this content was to get the community involved in creating immersive 360-degree panoramas using OTOY's software. The finished images were then viewable on Oculus development kits and the Samsung Gear VR, those who don't have the virtual reality headsets need to worry, the entries have now been released online and can be viewed without the Gear VR.
Artists who create 360-degree panoramas using OTOY's software can win up to $35,000 in this contest which closes on July 26. The third round of entries will be accepted next month. Oculus CTO John Carmack has signed on to judge the content along with comic book artist Alex Ross and OTOY CEO Jules Urbach. Creations of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners as well as the runner-ups will then be showcased in Oculus 360 Photos. All of the entries that have been submitted so far can be viewed without the Gear VR here.
