For the sake of virtual reality journalism, I am happy to fight zombies or get eaten by a dinosaur.
Here It Is, the Worst Virtual Reality App Idea Ever
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit making “Airplane!” references.
Paramount Pictures / “Airplane!”
Now, thanks to the Rooster Teeth podcast, I know what I will not do: Voluntarily experience an airplane crash. After being wowed by HTC’s virtual reality headset at a recent gaming expo, the podcasters enthusiastically detailed such a hypothetical VR app on the most recent episode, which you can hear in the video below; the VR talk starts at the 72-minute mark, and the air disaster app comes up at 1:19:20.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKrYjegFoaE
“Can we re-create famous air disasters, and can I pick my seat?” podcast co-host Gus Sorola asks. “Oh my God!”
“You know every part of it, too,” chimes in Sorola’s co-worker Aaron Marquis. “The one engine shuts down and you look out the window and be like, ‘This is going to be good!’ And all the other passengers are scared and you’re like, ‘I can’t wait till it flips!’”
Attention, VR developers: Don’t test this one on me. I will take off your expensive VR headset and probably throw it on the ground.
Clearly, though, I’m the weird one here. So why do these podcasters seem so jazzed for an immersive re-creation of a plane crash?
“Air travel is hands down the safest form of travel available,” Sorola told Re/code. “When something goes wrong, I’m always curious to know where the system failed. … I guess what I’m most interested in is when something goes wrong, how do the people in charge react? Sometimes the crew pulls off an innovative solution and sometimes they perform a series of mistakes that ends catastrophically.”
And the big question: What sort of disaster does he have in mind?
“What disaster do I most want to experience in person? A delayed flight,” he said. “Via VR? Man, I’m not sure. … Cabin depressurization or total engine failure rank up there.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
