A five minute VR experience created by Japanese students transports users back to the horrific atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War.
The piece, created by students at a school in the neighboring city of Fukuyama, uses an HTC Vive to reproduce the effects of the bomb, which was dropped by the USA on August 6th 1945 and killed 140,000 people. It virtually reassembles the town that stood before the devastating blast occurred and then puts viewers right in the center of the chaos that ensued.
Jumping into VR, you’ll find yourself walking along the Motoyasu River and exploring the town, discovering the Atomic Bomb Dome — the remains of the build located directly under the explosion — as it originally stood as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. Scenery has been recreated with the help of real photos of the surrounding area.
“Those who knew the city very well tell us it’s done very well. They say it’s very nostalgic,” teacher Katsushi Hasegawa, told Associated Press. “Sometimes they start to reminisce about their memories from that time, and it really makes me glad that we created this.”
The students are aiming to finish the project as soon as possible in hopes that they might get to show it to the few remaining survivors of the incident. Plans for a wider release haven’t yet been revealed.
