William Gibson After Trying VR: “They Did It!”

And then he said, “My birth cry will be the sound of every phone on this planet ringing in unison!” Just kidding, that’s from Lawnmower Man. But with all this talk of “the father of cyberpunk” and other cyber-things, it’s hard to keep those early forays into virtual worlds at bay.

Mario Aguilar, for Gizmodo:

He showed Gibson a couple of live action VR pieces, including a 360 immersive video his company made for Dos Equis. In the video, you’re transported to a Masquerade at The Most Interesting Man In the World’s mansion. You sit there for a few minutes as the room fills up with exotically costumed people.

It wasn’t all advertisements, thankfully. Gibson also saw a piece called Strangers by Felix and Paul Studios. The five-minute VR short takes you to an intimate moment at the studio loft of musician Patrick Watson. I haven’t seen it, but it was selected for Sundance, and critics loved it.

I remember seeing a Virtuality rig back at Macworld ’94 (or thereabouts), though I didn’t get to try it out. We haven’t come as far as we have to go, but I can’t wait to try it, maybe in the privacy of my own home.