The Gadget Show - Cernunnos

VR EXPERIENCE - imagination

 
 

Is it bad that we enjoyed seeing our product scaring innocent students?

 
 

 
 

THE Brief

If horror films don’t give you goosebumps and nightmares, a fully immersive and thrilling horror VR experience surely will. We designed and developed one based on Imagination’s concept and storyboard inspired by the horned Celtic god, Cernunnos. Using HTC Vive headsets we tormented film students from Regents University and tested the efficiency of VR horror by showing them the story in two different formats, VR and 2D - measuring their heart rates and galvanic skin responses. 

Is it bad that we enjoyed seeing our product scaring innocent students?

 
 
Cernunnos Gadget Show Channel 5
Cernunnos Gadget Show Channel 5
Cernunnos Gadget Show Channel 5
 
 

Our Approach

A dark woodland, creepy trees and weird noises, a very Blair Witch Project environment. 

The VR trailer was interactive, where a Vive controller manifested as a torch in the virtual world. It would shine light on the environment, revealing all of the scary elements we incorporated.

The results of the experiment - or torment session as you can see in the next video - were featured on Channel 5, on November 25, 2016. Check us out scaring Jason from the Gadget Show.

The full episode can be seen here.

 
 

Would a horror movie be scarier if watched in immersive virtual reality as opposed to traditional 2D? That was the question The Gadget Show team were hoping to answer when they contacted Imagination and Koffeecup Koffeecup designed and developed an immersive and thrilling horror VR experience on the HTC Vive based on Imagination’s concept and storyboard inspired by “Cernunnos”, a horned god from Celtic mythology. Film students from Regents University then experienced the story in the two different formats, while having their heart rates and galvanic skin responses measured.

 
 

How did we do it

The 3D environment and all of the props were created using Maya, the assets were then laid out into the Unity game engine, to be triggered at specific times which built up the tension throughout.

As everyone knows, sound effects tend to be the scariest part of horror films, so we added 3D sound effects to enhance the experience and add a certain element of uncertainty and, if you’re fond of horror, anticipation.

What's worse than hearing a branch crack under someone's shoe? - not knowing where it came from.

 
 
Cernunnos Gadget Show Channel 5
 
 

CREDITS

Client Imagination

Brand The Gadget Show

 

TEAM

Head of Interactive Lukasz Rynski

Head of 3D Ormond Taylor

Lead 3D artist Alex Piglowski

3D Artist Pov Prokapas

Sound Design Klash Boom Bang

 
 

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