Human Within on Quest 3: What's the new sci-fi VR experience like?
Human Within is an interactive VR film with light gameplay elements. I watched and played it on Quest 3.
Human Within is an experimental VR experience that combines 2D, 3D and interactive media formats in new ways, setting it apart from mainstream VR entertainment. It took me about 90 minutes to complete.
Throughout the movie, you make a series of choices that lead to slightly different narrative paths and five different endings. The plot itself remains largely unaffected.
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A powerful brain-computer interface
Human Within is a classic science fiction story about brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence, and the potential for their misuse.
It tells the story of two sisters, Nyla and Linh, who are working on a technology that allows computers to tap into the computing power of the brain and vice versa.
The research project finds a wealthy sponsor, the ruthless tech entrepreneur Blake, who follows his own agenda. By the time the sisters realize the dangers of this revolutionary new technology, it is too late: they are kidnapped by Blake and forced to complete their work on the brain-computer interface.
Against her better judgement, Nyla decides to attach the immature and life-threatening technology to Linh and use its superpowers to attempt an escape.
In the consciousness of a (human) supercomputer
In the VR experience, you are immersed in Linh's consciousness, which is half-human, half-digital and can hack into all of the planet's computer networks: from databases to phone lines to surveillance cameras. Nyla's goal is to find a person who can help her escape before Blake finds out.
During the "recruitment" process, Nyla crosses a moral line: she forces the unwilling accomplice to cooperate by blackmailing him with personal data she could not have obtained without the technology she invented.
A wild mixture of media
The backstory is shown in stereoscopic 360-degree flashbacks. The use of the camera is reminiscent of conventional movies and is not very effective, as the 360-degree view and spatial depth are hardly used to their advantage. It would have been more effective and meaningful to show the events directly through Linh's eyes, as a relived memory of past events.
The film sequences alternate with interactive passages in which you become an all-seeing computer, interacting with spatial user interfaces and helping to hack systems by solving simple 3D puzzles. Among the highlights of the VR experience are freely accessible rooms in a point cloud aesthetic, created by Linh's consciousness through 3D reconstruction of camera data.
The point cloud environments require you to examine rooms and scan objects. However, interactivity is very limited.| Image: Signal Space Lab / Actrio Studio
I thought Human Within was entertaining. But the mix of media doesn't always work well together and overall, it feels more like a movie or an experience than a proper game. I'm not sure if I'll play through it again to see the other endings because, as it stands, Human Within doesn't offer a lot of replayability.
If you like science fiction and experimental media, or if you're looking for something unique in the VR space, Human Within might be worth checking out. However, the $17 price tag seems a bit steep for what you get here.
You can purchase Human Within from the Horizon Store now.
It was developed by Signal Space Lab in collaboration with Berlin-based Studio Arctio and funded by Meta, the Canada Media Fund, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW.
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