Wump VR – Vladmir Storm & alpha_rats
Wump VR
What is the human experience? Is it defined by our everyday interactions with one another and our external environment? Or is it characterized by our seemingly unique abilities to empathize? Our ‘free will’?
Virtual reality, along with every other (insert adjective here)-reality tech, has given compelling responses to these questions, further blurring the line of what differentiates the human experience to everything else.
A curious project that is still in development, Wump VR is what most would describe as a psychedelic trip that peaked a bit more than it should. Mesmerizing visuals and musical interactions bombard your senses as users try to figure out how to navigate through this vivid Cronenberg version of the human experience.
Wump VR simplifies and transforms the human experience into what might as well be an alien dream. Each life state is defined by the visual aesthetics and interactions the user encounters as they progress through the experience. The user’s body changes and morphs through each stage, granting new modes of interaction with the environment.
“We wanted to keep the journey as universal as possible, focusing on the evolution of the body rather than lifestyles, life experiences, gender, etc.”
There are many virtual reality developers and creators with their own unique aesthetic stories to tell. Soon, we’ll be living in a future where we can choose any experience we want to live, temporarily or even permanently. I believe the human experience is not inherently human but rather an extension of the fluidity of existence. Are we all living a vivid virtual dream, wandering around as we all soak in the abstract information of our environment? Do we even want to take off the goggles? That’s for the individual to decide.
Vladimir Storm and alpha_rats are incredible VR designers. More of their beautiful work can be found on their Behance.
~ Emanuel Iral, Director of Visual Art, U.S. Transhumanist Party, June 30, 2018