‘Playtest’ and the Power of Virtual Reality: Are Our Fears Real?
‘Playtest’ and the Power of Virtual Reality: Are Our Fears Real?
Benn, C 2020, ‘Playtest and the Power of Virtual Reality: Are Our Fears Real?’, in David Kyle Johnson (ed.), Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections, John Wiley & Sons Inc, Hoboken, United States, pp. 92-100.
In Playtest, our fun-loving, thrill-seeking protagonist Cooper is travelling the world, avoiding calls from his mom. Stuck in London, when his credit card is stolen, he decides to make some money by travelling to tech firm SaitoGemu’s headquarters to test their “interactive augmented reality system.” After being introduced to the technology via a simple whack-a-mole game, he is invited to playtest something completely different: “the most personal survival horror game in history.” Cooper’s response: “I’m game.”
The creator, Shou Saito, tells Cooper explicitly that the technology uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) that “works out how to scare you by using your own mind.” His openness about the purpose and mechanics of the game initially disarms Cooper (and the viewer): we all know what’s coming. It’s meant to be a horror game after all, and the jump scares—like the spider—do start off pretty fun. As Cooper begins to lose the ability to tell the difference between what’s real and what isn’t, however, we realize that something much more sinister is afoot. He becomes increasingly desperate to get out but soon discovers it isn’t so simple. Even when he thinks he has escaped, he hasn’t. In fact, he never returns to the real world. He dies, calling out for his Mom, whom he never did call back.
Playtest explores one terrifying fear after another, and Cooper’s final death may not even be scariest part of his virtual reality experience. But will virtual reality (VR) really be that scary? Will it be scary in the same way that books, films, and video games are—or more so? If so, why? Because it’s novel? Because we’ll believe it’s real? Or will we still be scared even though we know it’s not? Are there ways in which VR actually is real? What could VR really do to us? Drive us mad? Kill us? Could we always tell it’s fake? Indeed, might VR give us reason to think that our “real world” isn’t actually real?