Fresh In Iceland: Virtual Reality

As you may have seen from the cover of our current print issue, this issue we’re partying like it’s 1982—‘Blade Runner’ is coming back—and so, it seems, is virtual reality.

First up, Björk exploded both the awareness of where VR technology is at these days, and what it’s being used for with her ‘Björk: Digital’ exhibit in London. The accompanying press conference, in which she appeared to a room full of journalists as a live motion capture VR apparition, was beamed from the Reykjavík School of Technology, and saw VR move into a new sector of pop culture.

Secondly: heard about EVE: Valkyrie? It’s a multiplayer VR sci-fi dogfighting game, set within the EVE universe. It might not be quite the VR Death Star attack run that an entire generation would like to see, but can we get a “Rogue Two, standing by” anyway?

Thirdly, Reykjavík VR startup Sólfar recently released Everest VR, now available for download on Steam, in which you can experience what it’s like to climb Mount Everest in five immersive scenes. Forget the damn hoverboards, people: they’re way too IRL. VR is where it’s at.