Virtual reality may be seen as a bit of a gimmick for some people, a way of life for others, and an opportunity to score some laughs and good times for many more. The latest VR hijinks is actually a bit out of the ordinary, as it involves rappers, wands, green screens, and puppies. Yes, you read that right... puppies. Take a look.
YouTube outlet 88rising posted the five and a half minute video on its YouTube Channel featuring some fairly well-known rappers attempting to try their hand at VR. It starts with introducing the rappers to some VR shenanigans, including Smokepurpp, Nef The Pharaoh, PNB Rock, Curren$y, Buddy, Fat Nick, Famous Dex, Wifi8Funeral, YBN Nahmir, and Saint JHN. It takes a while to get going, but as the video propels forward we begin to see how things take an interesting turn. In fact, at one point the rappers are plopped into a virtual world on top of a roof where crows are flying around wildly... and then, it happens. The rappers spot a baby bulldog at the end of a wooden ledge. Almost like by instinct they attempt to walk across the ledge to pick up the puppy.
Now the real hilarity begins as the rappers move slowly across the ledge while the crows chip away at their HP. While funny, if you are watching the video there may be a concept that needs to be explained. While it's amusing many of the rappers seem to be afraid of falling, that is one thing that VR does really well in room scale apps: it makes you feel like you're actually there.
I can attest from firsthand experience that while most VR games aren't all that impressive -- especially while you're sitting in the chair engaged in a passive experience that doesn't require much physicality -- things completely change with room-scale games because you actually have to move your body and interact with your surroundings. Things get even more surreal when you have environments that replicate the 3D surroundings. In this case, the rappers were actually in a green screen room with props that imitated the virtual rooftop, complete with a fake green-padded ledge.
What this did was create a physical ambiance for the virtual setting, which actually made the rappers feel like they were on a skyscraper, slowly inching across a wooden plank to save a bug-eyed bulldog. They were terrified; we were laughing.
While the graphics aren't much to write home about, I can only imagine how frightening it must have felt for some of them to walk across the plank while suffering from a real life fear of heights. I imagine it would be even scarier with an augmented reality game where you're actually on a real life rooftop trying to save a virtual puppy. Luckily, no developer has been that cruel with their designs... yet.
As for the group of rappers who came in and gave the HTC Vive a go, most of them managed to save the puppy from an awful fate, and did so all so viewers could get a good, hearty laugh out of it all. Also, the ending speech about Uganda and deodorant is one for the ages.
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