In the Deep Sea

After reading Ralf Nuhn’s article “From UNCAGED to Cyber-Spatialism” I couldn’t help but think of a very interesting conceptual video game (I will always work gaming into this blog if I can). Before I get into it check out the video and pay attention to the last couple minuets where immersion takes center stage in conversation.

Also, condom covered microphones...

 



 

Nuhn's idea about Cyber-Spatialism in UNCAGED immediately brought me to this game. A core concept, as I understand it, is that a virtual action has a real life effect. This is the same concept only the other direction. But wait, I can already hear the “But Jon, every video game is like that. You push a button and someone gets decapitated, blah, blah, blah.” True. But that is merely an interaction method. A controller is not much more than a stylized keyboard. The real thing I want to focus on is the way the mask of this game puts you in complete darkness (thus depriving you of visuals and, you know, sight) and how your breathing in and out affects the sound of the game that is fed back into your headphones.

It’s fascinating and unique. Reportedly people can’t play the game for more than about two minuets before pulling it off…though I’m sure halitosis might play some factor in this as well. It’s a great study in how people fear isolation, tight spaces, and silence so pervasive that the only sound you hear is your own heartbeat and breathing.

Most people tend to think of video games as an exercise of the id, but this right here proves that they can be studies in fear and the human mind as well.