If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to come back from the brink of death, then we have good news for you.
It’s said that over 80% of those who go through a legitimate near death experience, or NDE, claim their lives were forever changed as a result of their incident. The recorded effects have ranged from both positive and negative, with many survivors reporting a loss of fear of death, abstract thinking, or more expansive concepts of love while simultaneously challenged to maintain healthy relationships–the list goes on.
The effects of these life-altering experiences are in fact so fascinating to researchers that one company has taken upon itself to develop a realistic VR experience that simulates various real-life near death experiences.
Co-produced by Portal Experiences, The Brain Factory and 3DLive, Flatline: Experience the Other Side is an on-the-rails experience that introduces users to several real-world near death events from the perspective of the survivor. From realistic environments, to trippy, out-of body experiences, users will go through six different scenarios based on 4,000 interviews regarding NDEs collected over the past 30 years. And this is just season one, with more VR experiences based around other NDEs planned for future release.
Episode one puts you in the shoes of Gloria Hipple, a woman who a had her own close brush with death after a near-fatal miscarriage. Hipple’s words were dubbed by a voice over artist while Hipple narrates the event herself. The six minute experience also features commentary from world-renowned experts such as Cardiologist Dr Pim Van Lommel, Psychologist Dr Susan Blackmore and Spiritualist Dr Diane Corcoran who attempt to explain what is happening to Gloria.
Flatline recently made an appearance at the Scare LA horror convention in California earlier this month where the bone-chilling experience was accompanied by a pretty impressive prop for the show floor. In order to try out Flatline at the event, attendees had to step into an ambulance and strap into a real stretcher. All this accompanied by a VR technician posing as a less-than settling paramedic.
So if you’re looking for your own close encounter with the grim reaper, you can pick up episode one for $4.99 on Viveport, Oculus Store and at VR World in NYC with plans for a PlayStation VR release in the near future.
You can sign up for the full six part series at www.flatlineexperience.com.
