Through his first game, Technolust, VR developer Blair Renaud gave us a taste of what it might be like to step into a dystopian, Blade Runner-esque distant future. His latest VR experiences pay tribute to some other sci-fi classics, though.
In the spirit of 2013, Renaud last week released two free VR dioramas of sorts, recreating classic scenes from 80’s staples, They Live and RoboCop. Both take short clips from their respective films and put you in the bodies of the main characters. In They Live, you get to put on the specialized glasses that allow you to peer into the ‘real’ world, which has been invaded by aliens and plastered in authoritarian propaganda. The film is regularly cited as a favorite amongst many VR and AR fans thanks to its use of reality-altering eye-wear.
The RoboCop experience, meanwhile, lets you boot up as the iconic cyborg police officer. Your display will have a scratch, VHS quality to it as loading sequences appear in your vision. There’s a quick change to a more action-oriented scene before you return to your original location.
Neither of these two experiences is a game so much as an experience. Both are reminiscent of a time before consumer VR headsets in which a small community of developers (of which Renaud was a part of) banded together to share free experiences that allowed them to step into their dreams. If this was 2013 we might have even seen these apps launch on Oculus’ Share platform. Simpler times indeed.
Elsewhere, Renaud is currently working on Technolust 2. We got a very early look last week.
