Virtual reality game of 9/11 terror attacks leaves American public a little unnerved

YOU wouldn’t wish it upon your worst enemy, and you certainly wouldn’t want to experience it first hand. But now you can.

(FILES) This September 11, 2001 file photo shows the twin towers of the World Trade Center billowing smoke after commercial a...

IT WAS one of the worst terror attacks in history. When planes flew into the World Trade Centre Towers on September 11, 2001, the world watched on in absolute horror.

You wouldn’t wish it upon your worst enemy, and you certainly wouldn’t want to experience it first hand. But the designers of a new virtual reality game beg to differ.

They’ve created a first person “narrative driven” game for people to experience the fateful morning from the perspective of an office worker trapped inside the north tower.

The game is called 8:46, a reference to the exact time American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the tower, and its developers have had to defend their controversial product.

Considered in poor taste by many, the creative director on the project Anthony Krafft said it was meant “as a tribute to the victims of our generation-shaping experience.”

“In the team, we are all in our twenties,” Krafft told Tech Insider. “And 9/11, on a global scale, changed as much our social interactions as our geopolitical context.”

The game features a number of window views of the attack.

The real life event. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Kraft said out of respect to the victims, it was essential that game developers made the scenarios as accurate and realistic as possible.

“We worked with a lot of references, from an interview with a survivor to plans of the floors or journalistic works ... to be precise about the events and the human dynamics in the towers,” he said.

Based on countless hours of research, the virtual reality game was designed and developed as a school project over three months by a six member team. They worked in close collaboration with two actors who contributed voice acting and used motion capture technology to complete the characters in the game.

Developed on Unreal Engine 4 with Wwise, Optitrack and Autodesk technologies, those who choose to can use VR headsets such as Oculus Rift to navigate through the storyline.

The game is unlikely to be developed into a consumer product but the website allows people to download the game for free — provided the user says they are above the age of 18.

The website also provides an email for the team behind they game who say they have had to deal a fair bit of backlash due to the sensitive nature of the project for many Americans. But they maintain there is nothing distasteful about the user experience.

Jesus, I am not sure I ever need to experience 9/11 in virtual reality. Real mixed feelings about this. https://t.co/eRHDPycl3G

— Nick Horowitz (@ztiworoh) October 29, 2015