VR Electric Chair

Old Sparky

What started as a concept for a Hack soon turned into one of the scariest REAL experiences for VR. This is how Immersion should be done, but probably shouldn't .. lol.

THE PITCH

Thinking no one would want to take on the idea of creating a real electric chair at a hacakthon I pitched in the hope that warped minds like mine would exist out there. Turns out they did! I know a lot of people question the idea of creating something as shocking (pun intended) as a VR electric chair but I wanted to show that true horror is in the anticipation of something that is going to happen outside the safety of a game or virtual experience. Outside influences based on the design of the virtual experience only emphasize a deeper level of immersion for the user.

THE EXPERIMENT

Nothing quite beats taking something as gruesome as a virtual reality electric chair to a demo day for the non hackers to get on and ride the lightning. But before that can happen someone has to test it! Experimentation within the hackathon itself and on through the first couple of versions nailed the immersion and introduced the fear factor. The first version was an office chair, foil and some brave hackers.

THE RESULT

Front page of the OC register, many press points and some entertained and shaken visitors speaks volumes about the result