At the World’s Fair Nano SF, I volunteered with Modal VR for VR Human Pong.

My Role:
We had the Human Pong experience running for a total of 5 hours where more than 80-90 people became the paddle in the 2-player game. I provided Accident & Liability Forms to those waiting in line and gave an explanation of what the VR experience would entail. Once players reached the VR area, I directed them where to stand and when they put on their VR goggles, I would then give them verbal instructions on how to move their bodies accordingly to play the game. During gameplay, I monitored players by tapping their arms to let them know if they were moving too close to the wall or speakers.

My Interactions with Guests:
When the line would reach up to about 14 people, the wait from the very end could be up to 25-30 minutes. For the people at the end of line, I would let them know that the wait would be worth it. I described to them how the paddle would appear directly in front of them and I would use my hands as a tray in front of my lower abdomen as an example.

“You gotta move like a crab and you’re good!” is what I would say when describing how to move their paddle. The players need to straddle left and right and I would physically straddle left and right in front of those in line so they could get a sense of the physical actions they would be engaging in. A few people would laugh and I was glad that at least they could have some kind of enjoyment in line, but I hoped my ‘performance’ made their wait in line a little more enjoyable. I also let them know that near the end of the game, “Everything gets psychedelic! It goes from black and white to rainbow colors everywhere.”

As those same people in line would leave the VR area after their play, I would ask them, “How was it?” and a good amount of them had big smiles on their faces and would reply, “That was amazing!” or they’d laugh and say, “You were right. That was worth the wait!”

1 thought on “VR Human Pong @ World’s Fair Nano SF

Comments are closed.