Virtual insanity

A preview of Tulsa Overground’s VR room

Long the dream of recluses and perverts, Virtual Reality technology has never quite been ready for prime time. Readers of a certain age probably remember early efforts in the field, like the nausea-inducing and neck-straining “Dactyl Nightmare,” which had players pay $5 in exchange for a measly three minutes in a heavy helmet that granted one a view into a low-resolution, choppy world of flying monsters. I don’t think anyone ever bothered to play it more than once, and so the dream died. 

Until now.

We are on the cusp of a VR explosion (and perhaps the death of reality) and you can get a taste of it at this year’s Tulsa Overground Film & Music Festival. Given that you must experience this technology to believe it, I took local comedian Katie Van Patten, an admitted VR virgin and skeptic, to Tulsa-based Steelehouse Productions to sample some of the experiences that will be available at the festival later this month. 

Mark Steele, founder and executive creative of Steelehouse, ushered us into the company’s VR suite—a small room with a sofa, a monitor, and a variety of headsets. Before we started, a less-than-enthused Katie gave me her thoughts on VR: “lame and uninteresting.”

Mark helped her into a pair of Oculus DK2 goggles. She was surprised by their compact lightness. 

“As is often the case, I was expecting something much bigger,” she deadpanned. 

With Katie settled in, Mark booted up “Rexodus,” an experience based on a Steelehouse IP-turned-Dark Horse comic concerning the adventures of space-faring anthropomorphic dinosaurs armed with lava-based weapons. 

If I were twelve years old, this would probably be the coolest thing ever. Katie took to it like a champ, saying that the bright colors and kid-friendly content made it a good pick for first-timers.

Mark switched to “Showdown,” a bullet-time ballet of projectiles and explosions from Epic Games. Katie visibly tensed, crossing her arms, as she was dragged down the street of a sci-fi city to face off against a giant robot while it blasted away at soldiers. She later admitted that she had to close her eyes. “Once that car flipped over my head I had to, because that robot just kept getting closer.”

Mark then removed the Oculus and had Katie put on a pair of Vive goggles, made by HTC in conjunction with Valve, the company behind the popular Steam platform. Adding to the experience, the Vive comes with controllers for each hand, allowing the player to manipulate objects in the VR world. The first experience was “Tilt Brush,” a 3D painting tool developed by Google. 

With assurance of no giant robots or flipping cars, Katie proceeded with enthusiasm. Once she understood the controls, she effortlessly created a world of neon and sparkles cascading around her. When it was time to switch to the next experience, she objected. “I could have kept playing that much longer. It’s just fun doing something so frivolous.”

Unfortunately for Katie, Mark then switched to “theBlu: Encounter,” made by WEVR. While not intended to be scary, Katie was less than thrilled with the deep-sea experience that suddenly had her standing on a sunken ship, surrounded by fish and approached by a massive whale. 

“That was really freaky, kinda terrifying to be honest. I was sweating as soon as it started. I wanted to turn it off as soon as I saw that whale. Thank god it wasn’t a shark.”

Luckily, it was time to try something else, something truly perverse: “Job Simulator: Office Worker” by Owlchemy Labs. Set in 2050 in a world in which robots have taken over all jobs, this game lets the player experience the fun and excitement of being a cubicle drone. Katie took instantly to its colorful presentation, self-reflexivity and humorous attention to detail. Using the Vive’s controllers, she was fixing computers, pouring coffee and making copies, all while her cute robot boss barked orders.

These experiences and more will be available in Tulsa Overground’s Virtual Reality room, said Richard Mitchell, project lead of Guthrie Green, as well as the upcoming XPO gaming convention. 

“This is the year of VR,” he said. “It merges the arts of film and video games, making it very interesting to Overground.” 

The goal, he said, is to offer a cross-section of VR content that is available right now.

“I went from zero interest [in VR] to being very curious about the art form,” Katie said, once she returned to reality. “I can see this really taking off. I’ll skip the scary stuff.”