Once upon a time, virtual reality was merely a fantasy. But in 2016, the first actual, real-life virtual reality headsets went on sale to the general public. Nowadays, you can simply drive to an arcade, slip on a headset, and immerse yourself in a virtual world.
Depending on your personality, this probably sounds either exciting or terrifying. I fall into the second camp.
There are a lot of reasons that I’m suspicious of virtual reality technology. Mostly, I have questions: Is it safe? Could I get stuck in another universe? What if something scary happens in there? Could I lose control of my body? Will I look stupid with the headset on?
Despite my concerns, I put on my brave face and drove to Holotech, a virtual reality arcade in Louisiana, to see whether it actually might kill me. Why risk my life, you ask? Because with every major tech company working on virtual reality headsets — including Apple, Google, and Amazon — it seems better to get a handle on this technology sooner rather than later.
Also, it really can’t kill you. The darker possibilities of virtual reality, like mind control, are still the stuff of science fiction. (For now.)
Even though virtual reality games are still quite new, folks have been plotting this since at least the 1960s, when Morton Heilig built a prototype of the “Sensorama.” This machine provided a movie-viewing experience that engaged multiple senses, including sight, sound, smell, and touch. His vision never developed beyond the prototype. In 1968, the first virtual reality “headset” was invented. It was a head-mounted display that was so heavy it had to be suspended from the ceiling. It didn’t quite catch on, as you can imagine.
None of these were what we could consider modern-day virtual reality, though. It took several more decades of technology advances to bring us to today, when we have multiple VR setups to choose from, including the Google Cardboard, the HTC Vive, the Oculus Rift, and the Windows Mixed Reality.
All of them sound, again, downright terrifying. But I went to Holotech and tried it out anyway. Here’s how it went.
Arriving at Holotech
Holotech is a virtual reality arcade, and like all arcades, it consists of various sectioned-off areas filled with screens. Except at Holotech, the actual rooms are pretty bland. There are headsets, remotes, and television screens. That’s pretty much it. Everything else you need to play is inside of the virtual reality. Whoaaa.
After arriving, I scanned the selection of games. Holotech uses the HTC Vive system, but many of the games are compatible with different VR systems.
I immediately decided against the scarier ones: the zombie apocalypse and the haunted house. Virtual reality is already scary enough without adding other scary stuff into the mix.
“I want to do the 3D painting one,” I said confidently. The game that sounds like it’s designed for children — that’s definitely my pick.
Then I signed a waiver, which I did not read. I was pretty sure the fine print covered “falling into another universe and not coming out,” and I didn’t really want to think about that possibility at the moment. (On the contrary, the staff told us that the waivers are there because people tend to unnecessarily walk around and move their bodies while playing, and that results in some occasional head-bumping or falling over.)
Next, I asked my girlfriend which game she would play first. To help her choose, the staff member gave us a recommendation. Apparently, the zombie apocalypse game, Arizona Sunshine, is everyone’s favorite game. Even better, it’s one of the few games that you can play with another person, rather than being in there solo.
And that’s how I found myself nervously entering my worst nightmare.
Everything's gonna be fine, right?!
Getting Set Up
The staff member gave us a detailed tutorial of the headset, the controllers, and the game itself. Then she handed us our headsets, and bam! I was surrounded by virtual reality on all sides.
But to my surprise, I wasn’t immediately plunged into the zombie apocalypse. Playing VR games is a lot like playing regular games. You start up the console, enter a main menu, choose which game and mode to play, and click “Start” before you begin. The only difference is that the game literally surrounds you.
Being separated from reality immediately made me feel awkward and nervous. The staff member could see me, but I couldn’t see her. I could still hear everything, but I had no idea which direction I was facing and was barely aware of my body.
Slowly, though, we got accustomed to our 3D-universe, virtual-reality selves. Then we got started with the game.
Fighting in a Zombie Apocalypse
Arizona Sunshine has different modes of difficulty to choose from. We chose the easiest mode, of course. I was pleasantly surprised that it was, truly, pretty easy. It wasn’t that hard to aim at the zombies, it was impossible to accidentally shoot each other, and if you died, you could simply start over where you left off. Most important: Nothing was realistic enough to be frightening.
It was neat to see my girlfriend’s character alongside mine, even though it was confusing that her VR location in the game didn’t match up with her actual location in real life. For example, I could hear her voice to my right, but in the game she was to my left. Nonetheless, I managed to save her from several zombies. Bizarre, but also fun!
Did I say fun?! Yes, I was having fun. I did feel a bit trapped in there, but I also knew that I could physically remove my headset if I needed to.
In fact, taking off my headset to peek at my girlfriend was absolutely hilarious. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
After 10 minutes, though, I asked how to change the game.
“Already?” the staff member asked. “You’re not having fun?”
I was, to my absolute shock. But there were other games I wanted to try, and we only had an hour in the arcade.
Confident in my abilities now, I went through a couple other games, including one intense roller-coaster ride and a submarine ride. Then both my girlfriend and I bravely selected the haunted mansion game, Affected: The Manor, to play next.
Yep, I somehow played both of the exact games that I wanted to avoid.
Exploring a Haunted House for 5 Seconds
When I clicked on Affected: The Manor, a warning popped up: “Do not play if you have seizures. Do not play if you are of a nervous disposition.”
Reader, I am absolutely, 100% of a nervous disposition. I laughed, nervously, and continued on anyway.
I made it through a few minutes of the game, meandering through dark hallways and watching chairs fly through the air, before encountering a headless doll in a corner.
I draw a hard line at creepy dolls, so I quit the hell out of that game and went to do some innocent 3D painting with Tilt Brush.
3D Painting
NOW THIS IS MY JAM. Tilt Brush allows you to paint in virtual reality. It sounds basic, but let me assure you: Painting is so much more fun in 3D.
If I were a real artist, like some folks who use Tilt Brush, I would be able to create masterpieces like this.
And then walk through it and hang out in it.
But I am not an artist, so I simply drew myself a house to live in.
"Babe! Look, I'm making the windows! Now I'm making a door!" I said excitedly, like a 5-year-old child.
It was great.
When we finally left after an hour of playing, we both had red marks on our foreheads from the headsets. We also had headaches and felt disoriented by the real world.
"We should have walked around on foot for a little first before getting straight into the car," my girlfriend said as we drove home, feeling overwhelmed by the road. I agreed.
And we'd only been in there for an hour! Some people play virtual reality games for hours straight.
Back to Real Life
My dreams that night were super bizarre, and I woke up thinking about how much I'd like to shoot some more zombies. I don't know if I'll go back to the virtual reality arcade, but mostly because it's pretty expensive. For perspective, an at-home HTC Vive headset costs $800 — without the controller or any games. An hour at Holotech costs $35.
If cost weren't an issue, though? Yeah, I'd be shooting zombies and building 3D playhouses every weekend.
Oh, and to confirm: I am writing this from our regular, everyday reality. I am not stuck in the virtual reality at the arcade.
I think.
