VR time travel: Berlin 100 years ago

Berlin in the 1920s: what did the capital feel and look like back then? A new VR experience aims to answer these questions.

The journey through time takes us right into the centre of the lively Berlin of the Roaring Twenties: VR Usr are transported to Pariser Platz, where they are met by a paperboy called Tiger. As a true Berlin gossip, he not only has the latest headlines at his fingertips, he also knows God and the world and serves up the latest gossip, according to the announcement of the new VR attraction 20s.BERLIN.

Visitors can explore the area around the Brandenburg Gate together with the paperboy or on their own. Here, traffic roars through the Brandenburg Gate, past the Hotel Adlon and along Unter den Linden towards Alexanderplatz. The gigantic Graf Zeppelin hovers in the sky and you can meet celebrities who were actually in Berlin in the 1920s.

Old Berlin digitally reconstructed

The developers of the start-up Timetravel Berlin have spent two years reconstructing Pariser Platz with historical accuracy.

Each building corresponds to the documented original and details such as newspaper headlines, film posters, clothing, vehicles and all scenes and incidents that go beyond everyday events are closely based on historical sources.

Steam version of VR time travel planned

The VR attraction comes as a mobile VR station built around an advertising pillar. It will make its first stop in Berlin's East Side Mall, where it will be open for three months from 2 October.

Visitors move artificially across Pariser Platz by jumping to marked points with the controllers and, of course, by physically moving within the boundaries of the VR station. The VR glasses Oculus Quest 2 are used.

The start-up is funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and has received financial support for the project from Epic Games. It is currently working on further VR time travel projects.

The VR experience will soon be available at home: 20s.BERLIN is to be released on Steam.

Such time travel into the past of major cities is popular. For example, we have already reported on the TimRide Cologne reportsthat took users back to the 1900s or the journey through time to the baroque Dresden.

Source: Mixed