Adventure group take on virtual reality

Seven members of Adventure Group  headed off to the VRVE Virtual Reality Centre near Exeter, very unsure what to expect. We gathered outside a little building that looked like a cottage and went into a large, but rather dingy and poorly lit room. At intervals across the floor of the room were laid out headsets and controllers and after being given a brief introduction to the equipment we were each taken to our station. As soon as the headset was locked on we were transported, as if by magic, to a vast, brightly lit room. Around our feet we had a blue circle which we had to stay within. Although we could still hear our friends around us, we could not see anyone else and our attention turned to instructions we could hear from the headset and see flashing in front of our eyes.

In order to get used to the equipment we had a series of exercises to complete. There were a set of cubes that we could pick up and stack, some toy rockets that we had to pick up and pull the tag to launch them to explode high in the sky above us and a punchball to hit. Next we inserted cassettes into a machine for further experiences; the first was a shooting game and the second conjured up a robot-like creature that danced with us. And none of it was really there! How strange we all must have looked to an outsider as we all stood at our stations waving our arms around, laughing and looking around in wonder at things only we could see.

Having practiced using all the buttons on our hand controller, we were ready to make our individual choices as to the sort of virtual experience we wanted to try. There was a huge range including swimming under the sea with dolphins and turtles, flying while wearing a wingsuit, playing golf and creating a work of art. Many of us enjoyed riding huge elaborate roller coasters and shooting objects to score points as we hurtled along. It was absolutely amazing to be able to see vast and highly detailed landscapes all around and above us.

Some of us wanted to try a multiplayer game and, having some experience of archery from a previous adventure, we decided to collaborate to save our village from attack by trolls, goblins, orcs and the like. Each of us was in a separate tower in the landscape and had a different view of the attacking hordes. We shot vast quantities of arrows and at the end of each round of attacks we could see who had contributed most to saving the village. From time to time we took a hit from an enemy and were temporarily ‘dead’. It was great fun.

Eventually it was time to take off our headsets. We were back in the empty studio and needed a bit of time in the fresh air to regain our ‘land legs’ before we felt ready to drive home.

An absolutely amazing afternoon!

A longer version of this article is available in Episode 75 of my blog at www.debs60things.wordpress.com

Deborah Wallis