Image: MacInnes Scott
It's early in the morning at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and President Donald Trump is leaning against the executive desk with the lights off, scowling into the shadows. The phone rings, but he makes no move to answer it. On the desk, there's a handgun. Is it there to handle some intruder who somehow got past the small army of Secret Service agents outside, or does the former reality TV star plan to do something?
That's the setup of Wide Awake, a virtual reality artwork by the MacInnes Scott firm for the HTC Vive. It's a full-scale recreation of the Oval Office that lets viewers stroll about the room with a freedom usually only accorded to presidents, but the centerpiece is the photorealistic, lifelike figure of Trump himself.A body double served as the model, and the magic of photogrammetry and Epic's Unreal Engine reveal the subtle cracks in Trump's lips and the way his shirt and tie hold back the folds of his chin. Virtual reality lets you get close enough to look into his eyes and search for compassion. It lets you get close enough to kiss him."We see Trump In VR as art—a tableau vivant, in the American tradition of artists like Edward Hooper in painting, Gregory Crewdson, and Cindy Sherman in photography," said developer John MacInnes in a statement. MacInnes was the writer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and his business partner Remington Scott was responsible for much of Kevin Spacey's realistic performance capture in the same game.Should you need to make Trump's presidency feel even more real, you can download it for free from Viveport.