‘Blade Runner’ fan project recreates a whole set in VR
If you’re a movie buff, you’ve probably wished that you could walk into a scene and explore it on your own terms. Well, so did software engineer Quentin Lengele — and he’s close to making his dream a reality. He recently released footage of Blade Runner 9732, a years-long project that sets out to recreate Blade Runner protagonist Rick Deckard’s apartment in virtual reality using the Unity engine. The effort models just about everything in obsessive (and to-scale) detail, right down to stray magazines and a view of the dystopic Los Angeles outside. And to no one’s surprise, it captures the movie’s all-important film noir lighting and sound environment.
There isn’t much work left at this point. Lengele mainly wants to spruce up the washroom and add a few more details. The biggest challenge is simply creating a modern VR experience. The creator only has a first-generation Oculus Rift developer kit, which isn’t going to cut it circa 2017 — he’ll need to try things out with a newer headset before you can walk through Deckard’s living room as easily as you would in real life. Even so, this might just give you something to do if the Blade Runner 2049 VR experience just doesn’t cut it. Let’s just hope that the copyright holders don’t mind the project’s existence, as we’ve seen what happens when they do.
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