Creative production company Inition has released a video of the most extreme reactions to their Oculus Rift ‘Virtual Vertigo Challenge’.

Produced for London’s Digital Shoreditch Festival, the experience took five days to make and aimed to highlight how virtual reality can over ride people’s logic to make them believe they were walking across a plank straddled between the roofs of two skyscrapers.

The world was built using Unity and MiddleVR and a Kinect was integrated to add positional tracking.

Fans simulated the physical feeling of wind and Inition artists virtually pushed each guest of the plank on their return journey, sending them plummeting to their digital death.

Despite such a short production time and the low res screen of the Oculus Rift dev kit, the attraction was remarkably scary and highlights how intense virtual reality can potentially become.  It was a bit disconcerting that there was no avatar (apparently there was no time to implement that) so when you looked down you had an invisible body, but when further features are added, I seriously think it would be too much for some.

Add HD visuals, DMX controlled fans (so the wind intensity changes when you walk out of the hut and fall to the ground), an avatar and surprise elements (such as a villain suddenly appearing on the plank and setting fire to the end) plus a shaking floor, and you could have a full on nervous breakdown on your hands! – this really is the future of entertainment!

Enjoy //

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