It's that special time again on IGL Podcast: Virtual Reality News! Today we're discussing Google's VR Film, Pearl and its nomination for an Academy Award, and the slate of new titles from Valve plus their new "knuckles" controller technology.

For those consumers who have not considered virtual reality yet, the Academy Awards just gave the emerging media some serious credibility: The Google produced VR film Pearl has been nominated for an Oscar for best animated short film.

The film was originally released in 2016 as a part of the Google Spotlight Story series, and tells the story of a father and his daughter through the years. You via the VR are centered in a car as the action moves through the highs and lows of the pairs' lives. The VR is used to immerse you in the experience of both the passage of time and emotions from inside the car, with the characters.

The roughly five-minute film can be viewed for free on the HTC Vive or on YouTube as a 360-degree video, optimized for the Chrome browser.