Here at HorrorBuzz, we like to have regular meetings to make sure the team is all on the same page, and talk about upcoming events.
This past weekend, we met to discuss ScareLA coverage, and who was going to do what. As an extra little bonus, Norm invited Ryan Batcheller from Virtual Screams over to showcase what he will be showing off to folks at ScareLA this weekend.
And let me tell you, we were all super impressed.
Norm and I first meet Ryan at last year’s ScareLA. We were wandering the aisles of the convention, and we came across the Virtual Screams booth tucked away between merchandising vendors. I stopped suddenly, due to their use of the Occulus Rift. I’ve seen a few in person before, of course, but never had the opportunity to try one out. And now, here was a company that was letting people use one, in a horror setting!
I sat down, as Ryan helped get the Occulus Rift over my head, and placed an X-Box controller into my hands. I was transported into a haunted hotel, with a ghostly little girl terrorizing me at every turn. The world around me was lost, as nothing else existed to me but this experience. It was awesome.
Since last year, Virtual Screams has definitely upt their game. Setting up in a bedroom, so individuals could experience what they had to offer away from the noise of the meeting, I was transported to a medical institute, where they were testing, and trying to cure, people’s phobias.
I experienced 4 different scenarios; fear of the dark, fear of confined spaces, fear of sharks, and fear of spiders. The entire experience lasted around 5 or so minutes, but it was pretty incredible. I looked around each environment, and through the use of the Occulus Rift, was able to see all 360 degrees around me. Not to mention the fact that, despite knowing it was a simulation, the visuals and sounds made it so real that I actually reacted, physically, to a few of the situations.
That, to me, is a sign of a job well done. It’s no surprise to me that Ryan has been at this for a while, too.
Taylor Winters checking out Virtual Screams at our last meeting
Ryan has been working in the video game industry as a 3D Environment Artist for the last ten years with a company called JumpStart, who make an educational series of games, and are also working on a partnership with Dreamworks.
“I was able to experience an early VR Demo that DreamWorks was working on for How to Train Your Dragon and I was instantly hooked,” Ryan told me when asked about how he got into VR. “I had to get my own Dev Kit. I love Halloween and Haunted attractions, so making virtual Haunts was my first idea once I started developing with the Oculus Rift Development Kit.”
It’s not a simple process of just throwing it together, though. VR experiences take a lot of time and work to pull off, and what I experienced was still a work in progress with a few bugs that needed to be worked out.
The demo which I experienced took a team of ten people, all of which have normal, full-time jobs in addition to working on Virtual Screams. The team began talking about it in early 2015, came up with the story, and started focusing on the development in March.
“I would like people to get the same enjoyment out of Virtual Screams that they get from other Haunt related attractions, but in the comfort of their own homes,” Ryan said. “My goal is to deliver bigger thrills and set pieces as we move forward, giving our audience an experience that they can’t get in real life. As far as I’m concerned, we are just getting started with the potential of what we can offer with virtual reality.”
We were able to watch, on the screen, what Taylor was seeing
His first goal is to get the current demo finished and on the Oculus Rift VR Store for launch in early 2016.
If you’re attending ScareLA this weekend, you are invited to check out what Virtual Screams has to offer over at booth 735. It really is impressive, and worth your time. With more and more places turning toward virtual reality for haunt experiences, Virtual Screams is one of the best I’ve seen so far.
Virtual Screams is also launching their IndieGoGo campaign at Scare LA to fund the development cost of finishing the Phobia Simulator.
“After that, we plan to do one theme park ‘Haunt” style adventure every year for a Halloween release date on the Oculus Rift and potentially other VR platforms,” Ryan said.
To learn more about Virtual Screams, visit their website.
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