Oculus Wants To Start A Truly Unique Theatre VR Experience

One of the biggest reasons why people still go to theatres and watch actors perform on-stage is because they never get the same experience twice. There are always changes and adjustments, which makes the show different every night. Oculus wants to take this concept to a whole new level with virtual plays that will never be the same twice in a row.

The VR plays will involve actual, live actors that are trained for the theatre who will perform on a motion capture stage. These actors will then conduct a play with stories that are designed to always be different every time, CNET reports.

According to Oculus executive Yelena Rachitsky, the experience is basically a cross between the legendary PlayStation title Journey and the immersive production offering, Sleep No More. Apparently, the people at the company are counting on this particular project to set a new standard for what VR should be like and what it will involve going forward.

This has been what’s missing from the VR industry, which has stalled in growth. Without anything that really draws casual crowds in, there’s hardly any reason to own a headset, which is still relatively expensive.

As The Verge notes, immersive theatre is a trend that is also seeing a surge in demand and production in several key areas. HBO recently tried to bring a portion of Westworld to real life via the Sweetwater town replica in Austin, Texas that featured real actors.

The concept is fairly simple, as well. The actors are given a narrative that they are going to need to stick to while interacting with visitors and their environments accordingly.

What Oculus wants to do is basically offer the same experience but in a virtual setup, which can bring the experience to a whole other level. Guests will basically be dealing with immersive theatre with more freedom to tinker with the environment and with the actors having more resources to push visitors’ imaginations further. It’s certainly an exciting prospect.