“It’s a VR play! That’s the frothiest space in the Valley right now. Nobody understands it but everybody wants in. Any idiot can walk into a fucking pitch room and utter the letters V and R and VCs will hurl bricks of cash at them. Then by the time they realize it’s vaporwear, it’s too late.”
That quote, uttered by Erlich Bachman on the last season of Silicon Valley, is funny because it’s true. VR is as much a buzzword as an actual innovation at this point, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the cream from the crud.
Nevertheless, there are some really cool things on the horizon — of which Atlas Obscura’s new VR experience is one of them. The “definitive guide to the world’s curious and wondrous places” has partnered with Start VR to bring their unparalleled knowledge of global oddities to eye-popping fruition.
For those unfamiliar with AO: don’t expect to be climbing Everest or exploring Machu Picchu.
The first three episodes of will take you to places a little further afoot, like the Temples of Humankind, a series of off-the-beaten-path temples in the Italian countryside; Salina Turda, an underground salt mine that’s now a sci-fi theme park; and the Winchester Mystery House, a haunted mansion that owes its pedigree to the family that invented the most famous rifle on earth.
To help you peel back the layers on the world’s bizarre history, you’ll need Samsung’s Gear VR. But that’s your only purchase. Tickets to these experiences are free.
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