Groundbreaking Moments in VR

Everyone remembers the first time they were transported to another place and time via the wonders of visual magic. In a bygone era, it was the audience that ran from the theater when the first footage of a moving train was shown on a screen. A decade ago, it was the movie Avatar, during which many of truly believed we were in another world… and another body, perhaps. In recent times, it might be the moment we picked up something using an Oculus hand controller.

Since I was a kid, I have been keeping a mental catalog of all the seminal moments in visual history when something truly game-changing happened. It’s high time I wrote these down and got them out of my head, so here is a start at least… an excerpt of this (large) list of items comprising only those moments from this large list within category of AR/XR/VR. To be fair, the virtual reality phase of my upbringing is only the most recent phase. What might come after that… Artificial Intelligence? Cybernetics?

Only time will tell, but for now, please enjoy this (arguably opinionated) list of groundbreaking moments in VR.

VR THEATRE

Wonder.land (2016)
Reggie Watts stand-up shows (2016)
The Under Presents (2019)
Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit (2019)
The Tempest (2020)
Krampusnacht (2020)
Neverland Live! (2020)
Finding Pandora X (2021)
Welcome to Respite (2021)
Collider (2021)
Prison X (2021)
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge’s Ghost Encounter (2021)
Gumball Dreams (2022)

DOCUMENTARIES/STORYTELLING

Anne Frank House VR (2019)
Felix & Paul (2020)
The Key (2020)

GAMES

Ingress (2013)
Pokemon Go (2016)
Moss (2018)
Wolves in the Walls (2019)
The Room VR: A Dark Matter (2020)
Down The Rabbit Hole (2020)
Myst VR (2021)
Gumball Lounge (2021)
Madrid Noir (2021)

FESTIVALS (yearly)

BRC VR (Burning Man)
Venice VR
Tribecca
Cannes XR