‘Totoro’ and ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ show how Studio Ghibli films amaze us in VR

Virtual reality doesn’t have to stick to transporting you to realistic settings. You can use the technology to visit worlds previously seen in animated films.

Studio Ghibli films like My Neighbor Totoro are coming to life in virtual reality thanks to developer Nick Pittom, and you can download it now for free to try with your Oculus Rift or HTC Vive headsets. Ghibli is a renowned film studio in Japan responsible for some of the most beloved animated movies of all time. To experiment with VR spaces and storytelling, Pittom imported quick scenes from three of those films: Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away. These are only demos, but each scene emphasizes how VR could change the way people interact with impossible fantasy worlds. And from this starting point, analysts predict that virtual storytelling will help push this new industry to $40 billion in revenues by 2020.