【Horror】

As if wearing a bulky VR headset on Horroryour face didn't look awkward enough, somebody's gone and cobbled together one that can be used underwater.

Yes, a VR headset you wearin a pool. Let that sink in (no pun intended!) for a minute.

SEE ALSO: VR may be hyped, but it'll take 'maybe a decade' to become mainstream

The VR headset, which MIT Technology Reviewsays is about as decent as Google Cardboard, was created by Allan Evans, cofounder of the Avegant, the company behind the Glyph headset, and Stephen Greenwood, the director of creative development at Discovery Digital Networks, as a side project to "combine an isolation tank -- where you float in a dark, silent room, alone -- with virtual reality."

There's nothing special about the headset, either. It's made from a waterproof Android phone, a snorkeling mask and a 3D-printed chunk of plastic that holds it all together.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Ohhh ... boy.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

One of the reasons why VR gets a bad rap is precisely because it can be such an isolating experience. If anything, the underwater VR headset should only intensify the feeling of being cut off from the world, especially since you can feel the cold, wet water, but you can't see it.

"I think there’s a little more of a suspension of disbelief when you’re in a radically different environment," Greenwood told MIT Technology Review. "When you don’t have a sense of the ground or gravity or what’s up or what’s down, it makes it that much more believable."

MIT Technology Review's Rachel Metz tried several underwater VR experiences that were designed to help the user relax, including one where she floated above the International Space Station with "Space Oddity" on loop and another where she swam with fish while listening to jazz.

As Metz notes, the setup is far from ready for mainstream -- it's really just an experiment right now -- but it's still fun, even when water seeped into her snorkel mask and the lack of accurate head-tracking broke some of the immersion.

For me, though, I'll probably just stick to VR on land. There's nothing epic about drowning in real life, while I think I'm in space.

---

Featured Video For You

---

The first manned hoverbike could finally fulfill your 'Star Wars' dreams

---

Topics Virtual Reality

• Deals
• Games
• Life
• Social Good
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Science
• Tech

• Condo-Maximum
• Netflix's 'Bad Trip' is a perfect film: Movie review
• This AR app lets you 'try before you buy' plants for your home
• Volkswagen confirms its name change to 'Voltswagen' was a bad April Fools' joke
• Us vs. Him
• 6 allowance apps to help kids learn the basics of money
• Sony shutting down PSP store for good, but PS3 and Vita will live on
• Police accidentally retweeted an illegal live stream featuring porn
• Through the Eyes of Men
• Stick the Suez

• Can People Write from the Perspective of Animals?
• Norway Will Cease FM Radio Broadcasts in 2017
• “And I Was Like...” Exaggeration in Storytelling
• Microsoft Surface event: Everything we're expecting to see
• Best air purifier deal: Get a Honeywell air purifier for $100 off
• LG is bringing some cool OLED concepts to CES 2022
• The Picasso of ... Whatever
• Poem: “Clarence in the Seafood Palace”
• The cringiest things tech executives said in 2021, from Mark Zuckerberg to Elon Musk
• The catchiest earworms of 2021 that you just can't get out of your head

• Myth Appropriation
• 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' episode 2 reveals its true villain
• See the growing Suez Canal traffic jam from space
• Girl Scouts launches major effort to become anti
• As Stalin Lay Dying
• Yes, Laura Ingraham, Trump loyalists, and everybody else are living on separate planets
• Scientists figured out the Moderna COVID
• Netflix's 'Bad Trip' is a perfect film: Movie review
• A Letter to my Liberal Friends
• Peacock's quiet removal of racist WWE moments sure feels like a dodge

• Vanity Foul
• Donald Trump had a very awkward encounter with a T. rex
• Why the sun isn't causing today's climate change
• Sony shutting down PSP store for good, but PS3 and Vita will live on
• A Wonk on the Wild Side
• A Halloween costume caused Wendy Williams to pass out on live TV
• A 'Game of Thrones' prequel play is coming to Broadway
• Volkswagen confirms its name change to 'Voltswagen' was a bad April Fools' joke
• Together for What?
• Leave it to Ryan Reynolds to give horrible 'Deadpool' Halloween costume advice