The official trailer for Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s best-selling book series The Wheel of Time made history by being the first trailer to utilize YouTube’s 360 player and spatial audio surround sound.
This immersive experience allows fans to view the traditional 2-D trailer in a virtual three-dimensional “wheel.” Much like the fourteen-volume series, the trailer is detailed and filled with imagery.
Once viewing the video, a quick scan to the left or tight will reveal the elevated experience that transports viewers into the elaborate world the series exists in. In addition to viewing the trailer, users can move around the screen and look at artifacts, symbols, and the faces of Rosamund Pike’s character Moiraine. The trailer is a unique utilization of existing technology that offers multiple viewing experiences for fans of the series. Watch the trailer above.
This combination of technology feels futuristic, allowing the viewers to feel like they’re time-traveling, which is perfect for a series that is set in a world that is simultaneously the distant future and the distant past Earth. In this world, magic exists but only certain women are allowed to access it. Moiraine, a member of a powerful all-female organization, arrives in the small town of Two Rivers and embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey.
Jordan’s book series sold over 90 million copies and has been adapted into comic books and video games, and even inspired numerous power metal songs. Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures television co-produced the epic fantasy and turned to Rafe Judkins to serve as executive producer and showrunner. Alongside Pike, Sophie Okonedo, Zoe Robins, Madeleine Madden, Marcus Rutherford, Daniel Henney, and Priyanka Bose are featured in the cast. Uta Briesewithz is set to direct the first two episodes.
The Wheel of Time will premiere November 19, with new episodes available each Friday following.
