We Are Stars

December 18, 2016 admin

NSC Creative • National Space Centre UK Andy Serkis narration • Rhian Sheehan score $9.99 Steam 25-min film • Non-interactive • 4K×4K

NSC Creative • National Space Centre, Leicester UK • Steam: Positive 90% (40 reviews) • Screened 600+ planetariums • 30 countries • Dec 2016

We Are Stars

A 25-minute 360-degree stereoscopic VR film produced by the National Space Centre's studio, narrated by Andy Serkis, scored by Rhian Sheehan, and informed by leading cosmologists, astrophysicists, and astrobiologists. Journey from the Big Bang through stellar nucleosynthesis to the formation of our solar system and the emergence of life — the answer, told with planetarium-grade production, to the question: what are we made of?

Producer: NSC Creative • National Space Centre, UK

Price: $9.99 (Steam standalone)

Platform: PC VR only (Oculus Rift • HTC Vive)

Format: 25-min pre-rendered 360° 4K×4K stereo 3D film

Non-interactive film format. We Are Stars is a 25-minute pre-rendered 360-degree film, not an interactive experience. There is no controller interaction, no navigation, and no user input beyond playing and pausing. Students watch, listen, and look around within the 360-degree frame. This is not a limitation for its intended use case — it is identical to the format shown in 600+ planetariums worldwide — but teachers should set expectations clearly before sessions. Also available as DLC inside the CAPCOM GO! Apollo VR Planetarium app on Steam.

8.0

/10

XR School Score

Highly Recommended

National Space Centre production • Andy Serkis narration • Rhian Sheehan score • 600+ planetarium screenings • Steam Positive 90% (40 reviews) • 25-min pre-rendered film (non-interactive) • PC VR only

Steam: 90% Positive National Space Centre, UK
600+ planetariums • 30 countries

Overview

We Are Stars was produced by NSC Creative, the immersive storytelling studio based at the National Space Centre in Leicester — the UK's leading space-focused visitor attraction and education centre. It launched in 2015 as a dome film for planetariums, where it has been licensed to over 600 venues across 30 countries and is currently screened at institutions including the Fiske Planetarium in Colorado. The VR version, released on Steam in December 2016, brings the same production to a personal VR headset, allowing schools to access planetarium-quality astronomy content without a planetarium.

The experience is a 25-minute guided journey through 13.8 billion years of cosmic history, from the Big Bang through hydrogen cloud collapse and stellar nucleosynthesis to the formation of the solar system and the emergence of life on Earth. Andy Serkis narrates in character as the Victorian Time Master, a charming eccentric who serves as a guide through the journey. Rhian Sheehan, the acclaimed New Zealand composer, wrote an original immersive score. The scientific content was developed with expert input from cosmologists, astrophysicists, astrochemists, planetary scientists, and astrobiologists, making it one of the most rigorously scientifically reviewed pieces of VR astronomy content available.

The Stellar Nucleosynthesis Sequence Is the Educational Centrepiece The central scientific argument of We Are Stars — that the atoms constituting the human body were forged inside stars across billions of years of cosmic history — is one of the most profound and least intuitively grasped facts in astrophysics. The experience communicates this not through a diagram or a paragraph of text, but through 25 minutes of immersive visual and sonic storytelling that builds from hydrogen to the periodic table to the molecular building blocks of life. When Andy Serkis delivers the conclusion — that we are literally made of star stuff — students have been taken through the entire argument from first principles in a medium that engages emotional as well as intellectual attention. No textbook chapter achieves the same effect. This is precisely the use case for which VR documentary is better than any flat-screen alternative.

The 13.8-Billion-Year Journey

13.8 Bn yrs ago

The Big Bang — the origin of space, time, matter, and energy. The first 380,000 years before light could travel freely. The universe as a hot, opaque plasma.

~13 Bn yrs ago

First Stars — hydrogen and helium collapse under gravity to form the first stellar nurseries. The universe lights up for the first time. Population III stars begin fusing heavier elements.

~5–12 Bn yrs ago

Stellar Nucleosynthesis — stars fuse hydrogen into helium, helium into carbon, oxygen, and heavier elements up to iron. Supernovae scatter these elements into the interstellar medium.

~4.6 Bn yrs ago

Solar System Formation — a cloud of gas and dust, enriched by previous stellar generations, collapses to form our Sun, the planets, and ultimately Earth.

~3.8 Bn yrs ago

Origins of Life — the atoms scattered from ancient stars assemble into molecules, then into the molecular machinery of life. The same atoms that were once stellar cores become the building blocks of every living thing.

Production Credentials

🏠

NSC Creative

The immersive storytelling studio at the National Space Centre, Leicester. Over 15 years of experience in fulldome and VR production. Shows licensed to 600+ venues across 30 countries.

🎣

Andy Serkis (Narrator)

Award-winning actor known for motion-capture performance work. Narrates as the Victorian Time Master — a character designed to make the 13.8-billion-year timeline feel like a personal guided adventure.

🎧

Rhian Sheehan (Composer)

Acclaimed New Zealand composer. Original immersive score written specifically for the experience, covering the full 13.8-billion-year arc from Big Bang energy to the quiet complexity of a living world.

🔬

Scientific Advisory Team

Cosmologists, astrophysicists, astrochemists, planetary scientists, and astrobiologists contributed to the scientific content. The experience represents current scientific consensus on cosmic origins and stellar evolution.

Assessment

Scientific accuracy & rigour

9.6

Production quality

9.2

Curriculum fit (Astronomy/Science)

9.0

Emotional / wonder factor

9.4

School deployment ease

5.8

Interactivity

1.0

The interactivity bar is not a criticism — it is a factual description of a deliberately non-interactive format. The deployment ease bar reflects the PC VR requirement, not any content weakness.

Strengths and Considerations

Strengths

National Space Centre production — institutional credibility
Andy Serkis narration — exceptional performance for a science film
Rhian Sheehan score — purpose-written, awards-quality
Rigorously scientifically reviewed by specialist experts
Steam Positive 90% (40 reviews) — consistent positive reception
600+ planetarium screenings worldwide — proven educational impact
25 minutes — exactly the right length for a lesson segment
Family-friendly • All ages • Age 7+
Also available as DLC in CAPCOM GO! Apollo VR Planetarium bundle

Considerations

PC VR only — not on Meta Quest standalone
Entirely non-interactive — passive viewing experience
Released 2016 — 4K rendering is still high quality but the format is dated
English narration only (no subtitles confirmed in VR version)
One viewing is a complete experience — limited replayability
24 GB storage required

Best Classroom Use: Lesson Opener or Closer We Are Stars works best as a contained 25-minute block at the beginning or end of an astronomy unit, not as a standalone activity. As a unit opener on stellar evolution, atomic theory, or the origins of life, it provides the emotional and experiential foundation on which technical teaching can build. As a closer for a completed unit on nucleosynthesis or cosmology, it synthesises what students have learned into a single powerful narrative arc. Either way, it benefits from a brief teacher-led discussion immediately before or after to connect the film's narrative to the curriculum objectives of the lesson.

$9.99

Steam • PC VR (Oculus Rift • HTC Vive) • Also available as DLC inside CAPCOM GO! Apollo VR Planetarium

Get on Steam → We Are Stars Pack (bundle) →

Quick Facts

Producer: NSC Creative • National Space Centre, Leicester UK
Price: $9.99 (Steam standalone)
Platform: PC VR only (Rift • Vive)
Steam rating: Positive • 90% of 40 reviews
Format: 25-min pre-rendered film • Non-interactive
Resolution: 4K×4K • 360° • Stereo 3D • High frame rate
Narrator: Andy Serkis
Composer: Rhian Sheehan
Planetariums: 600+ venues • 30 countries
Age recommendation: 7+ • All ages
Storage: 24 GB

Verdict

We Are Stars is the most institutionally credible astronomy VR experience reviewed on this site, produced by the studio at the UK's National Space Centre with specialist scientific input and distributed to planetariums worldwide. Andy Serkis and Rhian Sheehan elevate what could be a dry explainer into something genuinely moving. The 25-minute runtime is ideal for a lesson segment, and the stellar nucleosynthesis narrative — that we are literally made of star stuff — is communicated in VR in a way that no textbook or flat-screen video can replicate. The PC VR requirement limits deployment, and the non-interactive format means it is a film you show rather than an experience students inhabit. Neither is a criticism: it is a planetarium show, and as planetarium shows go, it is exceptional.

The XR School

The XR School

We Are Stars

We Are Stars