Bandai Namco's new VR game looks like vomit waiting to happen
No no, I don't mean it looks awful: I mean I am literally going to throw up.
You've gotta hand it to Bandai Namco. While many other companies are holding back and waiting for virtual reality to prove itself, the publisher's development teams are clearly keen to see what can be done with the tech.
Sometimes that results in stuff like Katsuhiro Harada's attractive female friend simulator (uhhh), and sometimes it gives us this: Project I Can, which challenges users to perform simple tasks while their VR surroundings scare the s**t out of them.
The participants in the video below are a bit more demonstrative with their emotional reactions than you might expect of regular joes, but seriously: if you've ever walked over glass plating at a great height, you'll understand why this would be terrifying. You know you're safe, but your hindbrain does not - and there are situations where it gets the casting vote.
VR has become so good now that I expect this is genuinely frightening - especially as Bandai Namco has employed additional motion tracking (see the mo-cap markers on the gloves and Crocs everyone's wearing?) to make it a full body experience. I'm feeling a bit nauseous just thinking about this - even with no threat of motion sickness.
This cat-saving experience is just one of a number of activities at Bandai Namco's new VR Zone in Tokyo. You can find out more about it on the project's website, if you speak Japanese.