This virtual reality game is a trippy exploration of a broken-down L train

If it seems to you that there’s been a groundswell recently of ignorance and hatred, you’re not alone.
“There are a lot of things happening in the world that have to do with assumptions, prejudice and so forth,” James George said in an interview about his forthcoming virtual reality work, Blackout. “Why we really wanted to tell the story is because we don’t know the people around us. There are things within each of us that we would find interesting or fascinating.”
Blackout is the product of Specular, a Brooklyn-based creative studio comprised of George, Mei-Ling Wong and Alexander Porter. The film takes place on the L train. When the train (predictably) breaks down, the lights go off one by one, and you find yourself surrounded by strangers in an unusual situation. As you look from passenger to passenger, you’re able to hear the thoughts going through their head, George said. There are a couple themes people on the train are thinking about, such as coming to New York, finding your identity, and other thoughts people struggle with on the inside.

The team is doing VR in a different way. The backdrop of the L train was created with the same technology video games use, while the characters were shot in live action with a 3D-scanning camera. The different characters think aloud depending on if and for how long you look at them. The result is somewhere between a video game and a documentary.
“There’s a lot of energy to establish [VR] as a medium in the same way that film branched out from theater and TV branched out from film,” George said. “VR is not about having glasses on your face. We believe in it as a storytelling platform that isn’t just one-directional, like watching a film, but is immersive theater enabled through technology that includes your personal agency, your movements. We’re particularly interested in this subtle social narrative and situational experiences.”
The project is live on Kickstarter, and has already exceeded its funding goal of $30,000. At $30,000 the group received matching funds from the VR distribution platform EEVO. With the money, Specular will be able to finish the film. And just because they’ve reached their goal doesn’t mean there’s no reason to donate: for $950 you can become a character in the film (and, don’t tell the MTA, but for $240 you can have an ad on the L train.)