Escaping reality of dreary lockdowns

Virtual reality and other new technologies are changing the way Australians play sport, entertain themselves and get through lockdowns.

From left, Raphael Chu, Cheryl Chick and Kim Hopwood at VR Freak. Picture: John Feder

Virtual reality and other technologies are changing the way Australians play sport, entertain themselves and get through lockdowns, as the nation looks to ­escape widespread home confinement.

Beyond the likes of streaming Netflix and Foxtel, thousands of Australians are turning to virtual worlds to escape their predicaments, through futuristic headsets such as the Oculus Quest and HTC Vive.

Melbourne International Film Festival has moved fully virtual this month, adapting to lockdowns by allowing audiences across the country to access new worlds, and immerse themselves in a characters’ point-of-view through VR headsets.

“We’re excited to expand on our highly regarded VR program and introduce this new chapter to our audience,” festival programmer Kate Fitzpatrick said. “We see extended playing a major role in the evolution of cinema as we know it and providing exciting and innovative ways for filmmakers to tell stories.

“We are thrilled to be able to welcome anyone with a computer, anywhere around the globe into our newly minted virtual world.”

Splendour in the Grass was another festival to shift online last month, with guests paying $30 for a one-day pass, or $50 for a weekend ticket to attend and “rock out” virtually through VR goggles.

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Facebook this week launched a test of a new virtual-reality ­remote work app, in which users of the tech giant’s Oculus Quest 2 headsets can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves. Facebook is selling its Oculus 2 headset for about $550.

Facebook’s vision is to have us work, live and play in the virtual “metaverse”, even once lockdowns ease.

A skier hits the virtual slopes at Off-Piste Ski & Snowboard in Sydney.

“In the future, working together will be one of the main ways people use the metaverse,” Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.

“Within the metaverse, you’re going to be able to hang out, play games with friends, work, create and more,”

It is temporarily closed due to the lockdowns, but VR Freak – about 7km from Sydney’s CBD – offers games that transport players into virtual escape rooms and zombie apocalypses.

At Kim Hopwood’s Bondi Junction location, he fits players with weighted vests, dual pistols, helmets and earphones all powered by a heavy duty backpack “which essentially is a high-powered gaming laptop that has been formatted into a version you can wear on your back”, according to Mr Hopwood.

Once their goggles are on and their headphones clicked into place, they’re transported from a blacked out 6m x 6m arena into another world, smack bang in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

“It’s more like you’re in an ­action movie than a horror movie. Having said that, we do get a lot of screams,” Mr Hopwood said.

“Everybody is mapped to the millimetre of where they are in real life. Your guns, your helmets, they’re all tracked. That helps ­locate players’ movements and you don’t run into each other.”