Step Inside the Unabomber Investigation in New Interactive VR Experience

If you were alive in the ’90s, chances are you’ve heard about Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, the American domestic terrorist that between 1978 and 1995 killed 3 people, and injured 23 others in a nationwide bombing campaign. Now, HTC Vive Studios and The Newseum, an interactive news museum in Washington, D.C., have come together to produce a VR experience detailing the Unabomber case, which features an interactive inside look at Kaczynski’s infamous Montana cabin where he planned his bombings.

According to HTC’s blogpostUnabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience not gives you an inside look at the same cabin that officials found in 1996, but lets you “actively participate in the case and get a front row seat to the process that led to Kaczynski’s arrest.”

The experience features insights from FBI agents Terry Turchie, who served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the UNABOM investigation from 1994 to 1998, and Max Noel, an FBI agent during the investigation.

“Being in the cabin and looking out at the woods, and that first time you’re on the snow and you’re looking it – that’s just amazing,” said Turchie. “It almost looks exactly like the day we [first came upon the cabin].”

The Newseum, which actually has the original Unabomber cabin in their exhibition, will also be featuring the VR experience in an effort to better ‘cement’ all of the information presented there.

The app is now available on Viveport for $5, and will eventually make its way to Steam “at a later time.”

The post Step Inside the Unabomber Investigation in New Interactive VR Experience appeared first on Road to VR.

Unabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience Comes to Viveport

Last year Immersion teamed up with The Newseum to create a virtual reality (VR) experience based on the 20-year case of the Unabomber, a US domestic terrorist who terrorised universities, airlines and computer stores with mailed bombs. Originally shown at The NewseumUnabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience is now available on Viveport for HTC Vive.

Unabomber: The VR Experience screenshot1

Unabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience allows users to join the FBI Task Force in charge of investigating one of the most challenging domestic terrorist cases in US history. Starting in 1978, the Unabomber waged a 17-year campaign of terror with lethal, homemade bombs, injuring 23 people and killing three by 1995.

Spanning eight states, the FBI investigation involved around 500 agents with educational narrative featuring insight from FBI agents Terry Turchie (Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the UNABOM investigation from 1994 to 1998) and Max Noel (FBI agent during the investigation). It explores the challenges of fighting crime in the age of terrorism, journalistic ethics, and the role of the press and the public in working with the law enforcement community.

The experience will allow players to investigate and interact with the evidence that helped solve the case and explore the primitive cabin where the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski was captured. The at-home experience also includes additional interviews, videos, and evidence to review to gain a deeper understanding of the decades long case.

Unabomber: The VR Experience screenshot2

Vive Studios teamed up with The Newseum to bring Unabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience to Viveport, with the content marking the first in a series of similar educational experiences that the pair will bring to the platform. Future content will include Nellie Bly’s trip around the world, due to be showcased to Newseum visitors in Washington and available for download on Viveport.

Unabomber: The Virtual Reality Experience is now available on Viveport for $4.99 USD/ £3.77 GBP and will be available on Steam at a later date. For any further updates from Vive Studios or The Newseum, keep reading VRFocus.

Unabomber VR: Explore How FBI and Journalists Worked Together to Catch ‘The Unabomber’

Virtual Reality (VR) has the capability of transporting a user to another place. This is not only perfect for videogames, stories and experiences but also for historical education. This is exactly what Immersion and the Newseum wanted to do with VR application Unabomber VR; a VR experience that explores the real-life case of ‘The Unabomber’ a man who terrorised universities, airlines and computer stores. VRFocus spoke to Piotr Baczyński, the CEO of creators Immersion about the experience.

UNABOMBER_VR_IMMERSION

Warsaw based studio Immersion have created a virtual reality (VR) experience that makes you a member of the investigation team on the hunt for the Unabomber, code name UNABOM (UNiversity and Airline BOMbings). Unabomber VR explores how the FBI managed to track down the man responsible for 16 bombings over the course of two decades. The case spanned eight states and involved about 500 agents, the FBI were flummoxed. In 1995, a suspect mailed a 35,000 word anti-technology essay that was over 60 pages long to The New York Times and The Washington Post. After much debate, the Post printed the manifesto with the Times sharing the costs of the prints. Months later, a tip arrived from the bomber’s brother which eventually led the FBI to a small cabin in Montana where Theodore Kaczynski was arrested. The story addresses the challenges of fighting crime in the age of terrorism, journalistic ethics and the role of press when it comes to the public interest.

The six-to-seven minute experience will allow you to make key decisions, including finding bombs and disarming them with a special police robot. Narrated by Terry Turchie, the FBI agent who ran the task force on the case, you will interact with evidence that helped unravel the mystery. As well as hear the ethical dilemma journalists had to face on their decision to publish the Unabomber Manifesto or not. Baczyński explains that they worked together with historians, crime investigators and members of the museum to make the experience as realistic as possible.

Immersion was approached by The Newseum, a museum based in Washington that is focused on journalism and freedom of speech. The Newseum already have various VR applications and are continuing this with Unabomber as the first of a new series of applications. With the next ones to be focused on famous explorer Nellie Bly, the Greensboro (Woolworth’s) Lunch Counter protest and Watergate. The Unabomber is available on Viveport and Steam VR, at a slightly longer 10-20 minute experience.

To find out more about the experience and the Unabomber, watch the video below.