A live demonstration of the Game of Thrones Oculus Rift Activation at SXSW 2014. The experience involved stepping into a cage meant to resemble a steel & wooden elevator. As you don the oculus rift virtual reality headset you enter a virtual elevator very similar to the real world one. Suddenly the elevator shakes and it begins to ascend the wall. With the headset on, the experience is so convincing, you feel unstable as if it really did shake, requiring you to grab the sides of the cage to stabilise yourself. Sounds and ambient noise fill your ears immersing you in the experience. As you ascend, cold air blows on you from above to add to the experience. The longer you have the headset on, the more you adjust and accept the experience as a kind of altered reality.

“The longer you have the headset on, the more you adjust and accept the experience as a kind of altered reality.”

When the elevator reaches the top of the wall, you begin to walk through an icy network of passageways until you reach the other side of the wall. Looking out over an expansive view of the north, you begin to see an army charging at you in the distance. Suddenly flaming arrows start whizzing past your head. I ducked and looked behind me to watch them crash in the distance. Eventually I got hit by one and fell down the wall to my death, cold wind blowing in my face and my head spinning from the fall. An incredible experience that was far more convincing than other Oculus Rift experiences I’ve tried. I only wish it had gone longer.

oculus-1-ef23b42908a240101b04b91cb222491802e3bd30-s40.jpeg