Ghostbusting in The Void
Last week I had the chance to check out the VOID’s Ghostbusters virtual reality experience at Madame Tussaud's celebrity wax museum. It was an awesome experience, a totally immersive multi-sensory ghoulish illusion.After rushing past the wax figurines of everyone from Johnny Depp to Barack Obama, I made headway to the Ghostbusters area of the museum, where greenish hologram ghosts slimily greeted me.There is separate entrance just for the VR Ghostbuster experience, and I proceeded directly there, ready to get the action started.To begin my adventure, I was equipped with a headset, including eye goggles and earphones, a wireless charged backpack containing a powered up laptop, and a proton powered gun. Overall, I felt like I was just dressing up into a costume, ready for my role as a Ghostbusting femme fatale. Only caveat was the avatar was a male, so not fully representative of me. This is a bit surprising considering the new movie primarily features female Ghostbusters.Participation in the VR dimension is limited to groups of 3 people at a time, thus the experience is social, and you can virtually view your fellow team’s avatars, as well as physically bump into them if you get too close. It was fun to work towards a common goal of blasting the demons and ghosts away in order to safeguard the big apple.The whole simulation completely synced with my physical surroundings. As I ventured through the halls of a small city apartment, the shaky floors vibrated. As I stepped into an elevator, I pressed my fingers onto virtual buttons that were also mapped to physical buttons within the actual space, which gave me a sense of true presence. The line between real and virtual was completely blurred for me. When I stepped onto the roof of the building, I felt the night air breeze blow, as I crouched in fear when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man man towered over me.For an experience that lasted less than 15 minutes, it was incredibly memorable and impactful, which is a good thing considering it’s not cheap. However, for such a unique experience - Its worth it for now, until this technology and these experiences become more pervasive and accessible.[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BIJfGN4haem/?taken-by=rori.d[/embed]On a side note, I just finished watching Stranger Things. How cool would a VOID experience be in the Upside Down Dimension?