Take a second look at the big image above. You were undoubtedly drawn at first to the stunning piece of artwork sprayed onto that brick wall. However, if you let your eyes wander you’ll begin to notice a few unrealistic blemishes. The sky looks a little JPEGy, the light pole is a bit pixelated, and so on. That’s because this is not an actual photograph – no matter how realistic the art may look.
It is made possible by a very exciting new virtual reality experience known as Graffiti Simulator VR.
Graffiti Simulator is the inaugural VR project from freshman developer, Kingspray.
As you can tell from the above video, the experience offers you a wide variety of toolsets to create the graffiti of your dreams. There are different nozzles, spray types, and colors in the game. A heavy emphasis is placed on realism, especially when it comes to the spray mechanics of the paint, and that commitment to detail is what enables lifelike masterpieces such as this one.
There’s a bit of similarity to Google’s wildly popular VR art experience Tilt Brush, in that both titles allow you to unlock your creativity in the digital world, but Kingspray’s decision to root their users in something as realistic as graffiti definitely sets them apart.
As we have recently seen with the rampant success of Pool Nation VR, there is a huge market for these sort of “realistic” VR experiences. People seem eager to live out their more natural fantasies, like owning a pool table or tagging a wall, while bypassing the inherit real-world drawbacks – such as finding room for a heavy table or dodging the police.
Kingspray is currently developing Graffiti Simulator for an eventual release on Steam and the simulator’s reliance on hand-tracked controllers means that, at this time, it is only being targeted toward the HTC Vive. Kingspray has yet to mention if it will be creating versions for other headsets such as the Oculus Rift (with Touch Controls) or Playstation VR. Graffiti Simulator is currently in a closed beta that began on May 16 and, according to the studio, “once we have ironed out any remaining issues it will be available on the Steam store.”
The wider public got a rare look at Graffiti Simulator when Kingspray demoed the title at the recently concluded X Games (June 2-5). If you’re interested, you can check out what some beta users are spraying up through an online gallery that the studio is curating.
Check back soon for more news on Kingspray and Graffiti Simulator VR.
