The Museum of Other Realities (MOR), the immersive multiplayer art museum for virtual reality, is temporarily open to the public for free in celebration of select British XR artists, who are presenting their works via a special showcase called The Immersive Arcade.
The Immersive Arcade: The Showcase is being hosted on MOR, which is free to download on Steam from now until March 26th.
To visit the showcase, which is the first of multiple volumes, you’ll also need to download The Immersive Arcade DLC, which is also free on Steam.
Once you’ve downloaded both items, you simply need to pop on your SteamVR-compatible headset and head to The Immersive Arcade showcase on your righthand side. MOR is exclusively available to VR headset users, and there is no 2D option like with other social VR platforms.
The showcase, which was built in partnership with Kaleidoscope and Digital Catapult, features four installations:
- Common Ground by Darren Emerson, East City Films: Common Ground is a VR documentary narrative exploring the history, politics and human face of the current crisis in the UK housing system.
- The Invisible by Darkfield: Imagine you could make yourself invisible. What would you do with this remarkable talent? Could you resist the temptation to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting? If you cannot be seen, how can you be held responsible for anything? Meet the invisible man and choose your path.
- Fly by Charlotte Mikkelborg, Novelab: From a multiple award-winning VR team and Oscar-winning special effects team, Fly enables you to become a time-travelling pilot – from the earliest imaginings of Leonardo da Vinci and his ornithopter, to the Wright Brothers’ success on Kitty Hawk Beach and, ultimately, into one potential future of flight.
- Notes on Blindness by ARTE, Atlas V, Archer’s Mark, Novelab: In 1983, after decades of steady deterioration, John Hull became totally blind. To help him make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began documenting his experiences on audio cassettes. These original diary recordings create the basis of this interactive non-fictional narrative which is a cognitive and emotional experience of blindness.
These are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of art installations available on the platform at any given time. In addition to a mind-boggling amount of interactive art, the platform also hosts regular in-game events such as a talk by Drew Skillman and Patrick Hackett of Skillman & Hackett, the original studio behind Tilt Brush.
The Museum of Other Realities typically costs $20, so it’s a great opportunity to get in and get social with fellow art lovers. The app is also available on Rift through the Oculus Store and SteamVR headsets through Viveport.