Attendees of this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) will be able to get a taste of the upcoming release of Steven Spielberg’s new action adventure, Ready Player One, in a virtual reality (VR) experience.
The release of the upcoming film is set for 29th March and in anticipation Ready Player One will be taking over the Brazos Hall, with a two-story experience. Included in the experience will be exciting VR content on a HTC Vive unit that allows visitors to create their own digital identity in the Ready Player One Avatar Creator. Once created, the digital recreation of themselves will be sent to their email so they can use it to their heart’s content.
The Ready Player One Experience starts outside where the exterior of the Brazos Hall is set to be transformed into the Stacks, the vertical trailer park which is the home of the main character in Ready Player One. Once a visitor has received their personal radio-frequency identification (RFID) wristband, they will be able to enter through another location from the film, Wade Watts’ Van, and then enter the OASIS where the real meat of the experience is found. The RFID wristbands will also keep score of visitors knowledge of ’80s trivia, arcade games or found hidden clues. These will be compiled into a leaderboard to win fun prizes including the grand prize of a HTC Vive.
Also at the Ready Player One Experience plenty of sights and sounds for visitors to explore. This includes a Hot Topic Ready Player One Pop-Up, The Distracted Globe, 2045’s hottest nightclub that will offer plenty of Ready Player One themed cocktails and a stage packed with DJs and performers. On Sunday, 11th March, the venue will also hold a livestream, Ready Player One LIVE at SXSW, powered by Twitch and IMBb and will feature some of the stars and filmmakers from Ready Player One, hosted by Aisha Tyler and correspondent Alex Correa.
The Ready Player One Experience at SXSW will be open from Friday, 9th March until Sunday, 11th March. The SXSW conference will continue on until the 18th March, 2018.
For more on VR exhibitions and content keep reading VRFocus.