Batman Battles Nausea in Virtual Reality
- ‘It’s very easy to scare the crap out of people’ in VR titles
- The technology is just starting to hit its stride in gaming
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There’s a special feeling you get when you play Bruce Wayne in the Batman: Arkham VR video game. You almost believe you’re tapping the keys of the piano in your stately manor. You have the sensation of being whooshed down to the Bat Cave. With a grapple gun in one hand and batarang in another, you’re ready to take on Gotham City.
You might not even throw up. Nausea can be a problem with virtual reality, and so can surprises. “It’s very easy to scare the crap out of people,” said Sefton Hill, co-founder of Rocksteady Studios, the Warner Bros. subsidiary that made the game. “When you put on the headset, your brain believes you’re there.”