Virtual reality has the magical ability to take you to an unlimited array of locales, and a display I spotted at the New York Comic-Con initially made the argument that the medium has reached its full potential. Based on the Dwayne Johnson movie Skyscraper, this “Impossible Leap” VR experience allowed users to reenact the iconic(?) sequence in which Johnson leaps from a crane into the skyscraper. Naturally, I felt compelled to take advantage of the opportunity become The Rock.
To my disappointment, the experience was not actually playing as Dwayne Johnson—I looked down to see if I had a virtual prosthetic leg to only find that I was an anonymous floating torso. After a brief demo that taught me how to walk, using your arms to flail the Vive controllers up and down, I was on an elevator heading to the top of the crate; rather than be The Rock, he was calling me on a cellphone, entrusting me to make the jump to save his family. I had to be the Rock that The Rock himself could not Rock.
I knew I couldn’t let him down.
Source: Destructoid NYCC: Skyscraper VR experience is a trailblazer for letting you pretend to be The Rock