Category: the farm 51

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Chernobyl VR Project Comes To PlayStation VR, Updates For PC Version

It seems almost amazing to think that we first heard about Chernobyl VR Project, a virtual reality (VR) title from Polish developers The Farm 51 way back in April 2015. Over time we’ve had more than one video and certainly more than one support release for the experience which first hit Oculus Rift more than a year ago.

Now the long-planned PlayStation VR version has finally gone live meaning PSVR owners can now take the haunting virtual tour of the town of Pripyat and the area immediately around the nuclear reactor where the disaster took place in 1986.

“At The Farm 51, we believe that Virtual Reality (VR) is not only about entertainment.” Explains the developers. “We wanted to leverage computer game mechanics to create an interactive account of the tragic fate of the people and places affected by the catastrophe.”

An updated version has also launched for the PC on both Steam and the Oculus Store, bringing with it the hospital as a new location within the app, Touch support for Oculus Rift, Virtuix Omni support for HTC Vive, improvements to sound, graphics and video quality and the addition of new graphical settings.  The PlayStation VR version also has an exclusive new section in the form of the roof of the power plant itself.

You can see a release trailer for the PlayStation VR version below. VRFocus will continue to bring you updates on the Chernobyl VR Project and further future announcements from The Farm 51.

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Go Behind-the-Scenes of the Chernobyl VR Project

This week The Farm 51 launched its virtual reality (VR) documentary experience Chernobyl VR Project for the HTC Vive head-mounted display (HMD). It gives viewers the chance to explore the highly radioactive area in and around the infamous nuclear power station in the Ukraine, which went into meltdown in 1986. The project has been in development since 2015 and now the studio has released a behind-the-scenes documentary on its creation.

The 360-degree video which can be viewed below is narrated by The Farm 51’s Development Director, Wojciech Pazdur who explains why it was important to create the immersive experience for the 30th anniversary this year. He opens the video by saying: “When we had started working on the Chernobyl VR Project, we wanted to create something like a computer game set in virtual reality. However, we’ve quickly realised that for many people the topic was a very serious and traumatic experience. So we decided that our experience for [a] VR app will not only be pure entertainment, but will also address important social issues.”

The short film showcases some of the areas The Farm 51 physically filmed in, and other areas where drones had to be used due to the high levels of radiation present. Originally the team were looking at various exotic locations to create an immersive VR experience of, somewhere people want to go like the Egyptian or Mayan pyramids for example. But they decided to choose Chernobyl because it’s somewhere most people don’t want to go due to the war in the Ukraine or the radiation levels, thus it’s a place few would ever lay their eyes on normally.

The Chernobyl VR Project can be purchased for HTC Vive via Steam or for Oculus Rift on Oculus Home. Keep reading VRFocus for all the latest updates on Chernobyl VR Project, as further content is added.