Hypha: an Immersive Story
• 3-star rating
• PCVR
• Documentary, Education, Natural History
• Comfortable, Roomscale
As a medium Virtual Reality offers opportunities to see things from uncommon perspectives, then there's Hypha - which takes perspectives to an extreme. Awaken as a fungal spore witnessing an earth-wide disaster, before taking a journey through the life cycle of the fungi kingdom.
Describing the story in detail would spoil it for the viewer, but do expect to spend a period of time underground in conversation with the root systems of plants as the tale unfolds with a message about the importance of fungi and the health of the planet.
Visuals are mostly on the simplistic side but work well enough to tell an effective story. We approached Hypha without prior knowledge and was able to understand the story, but some - particularly children, would benefit from a basic understanding of fungi to avoid an otherwise baffling experience since there's no introduction and no scene setting here. We also recommend skipping the video trailer for Hypha, which is effectively a compressed version of the full experience and would diminish the viewer's enjoyment.
Witnessing an earth-wide disaster from above.
Mostly a hands-off experience, what interaction there is with controllers is somewhat on the clumsy side. The ability to move around in your room space is also required for a couple of moments, though for the rest of the time you can remain seated. Snap-turning is available for those who aren't able to rotate 360 degrees within their surroundings.
✅ Unique approach to natural history.
✅ Unusual but engaging story.
❌ May be baffling to some without a primer.
❌ Simple visuals, little interactivity.
• Languages: English, Spanish
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