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Jurassic World VR shoves your face in T. Rex's screaming maw

Of course it does.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
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Joan E. Solsman
2 min read
Oculus

People sometimes talk about how virtual reality tricks your "lizard brain," but this is something else entirely. As soon as you put on a headset to watch "Jurassic World: Blue," you know a T. Rex is coming for you -- just because it's predictable doesn't make the gigantic screaming jaws inches from your face any less unsettling.

Thursday, Facebook's virtual-reality division Oculus released the T. Rex-starring second episode of "Jurassic World: Blue," which combined with the first installment creates a roughly nine-minute VR experience where you see Isla Nublar side-by-side with velociraptor Blue. The release, which is available free on Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, and Gear VR, is timed ahead of the wide release of "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" later this month. 

Both episodes include animation and visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic, as well as sound by Headspace Studio. The experience itself was made by Felix & Paul Studios, which was behind 2015's Jurassic World: Apatosaurus experience too. 

Virtual reality is one of technology's buzziest trends, attracting giant investments by heavyweights like Google and Facebook. Despite its hype, widespread adoption of VR has been elusive, crimped by expensive hardware and no gotta-see-it experiences breaking through with mainstream consumers. 

If you'd like to be terrified by predatory dinosaurs but don't own a headset yourself, Jurassic World also has a virtual reality game coming next week to more than 100 Dave & Buster's. In Jurassic World VR Expedition, HTC Vive headsets and VR motion simulators let up to four people play at a time in a five-minute dinosaur rescue mission.