Nestled among the holiday balloons and fur coats, two podiums and a television monitor provide the apparatus for the virtual-reality game "Zone Hunter, Part Two," one of the newest forms of entertainment available to the Russian public.
By coordinating players' body movements with the images they see on the screen, virtual reality gives them the illusion of physically participating in the game.
Alexei Ternovsky, 24, spins around the podium, firing his gun in all directions. For the moment, at least, he is a 21st-century urban warrior battling through alien streets and sewers, slaying the villainous robots who cross his path. His mission is to fight his way through an urban jungle, dodging dangerous cars in a car park and eerie green creatures in a sewer. Fighting against time as well as against his attackers, he must reach Buzz's ship and prevent him from destroying the world.
Wearing a headset that provides him with a 360-degree view of the screen on which he is playing, Ternovsky is oblivious to his surroundings. He cannot see the crowd of curious onlookers that has gathered in the department store, and his only contact with the outside world is the gentle voice of the game's operator, occasionally advising him on his next move.
The game, meanwhile, registers his movements through wire sensors that are connected to his headset and to the podium. It then feeds this information into its computer, which instantly creates a corresponding graphic image.
"It's excellent," he says after four games, "It's like playing an ordinary computer game -- only better, because you feel the surroundings." To Ternovsky, it's well worth the 12,000 rubles ($3.60) he spent per game.
At present, "Zone Hunter, Part Two" is the machine's only game; "'Virtuality' Boxing" was canceled because players were too boisterous. By holding a joystick and punching into open space, they were able to attack a virtual opponent who instantly generated all the relevant wounds. The only problem was the fate of the machine.
"People would jump on the podium, under which there was very expensive equipment, so we decided we'd better stop," said Raya Bandura, sales and marketing director for Poloose, the game's distributors.
While the entertainment industry continues to invent new games, virtual reality is being developed in areas ranging from firefighting to architecture. Soon medical students hope to perform virtual operations, thereby reducing the need for real bodies donated for research. Firefighters, meanwhile, will be able to struggle through a virtual burning house, thereby learning, almost through experience, the safest and most expedient way to put out a fire.
But when it comes to drawing department store audiences, Buzz the Chainsaw Master is still the leading contender.
Poloose's game is currently touring Moscow, and will be at GUM at least until the end of December.
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