Reggie Watts' Runnin is VR at its most euphoric

Musician and comedian Reggie Watts is dancing in the basement of a movie theater in Park City, Utah. When I first spot him, Watts is mid-backbend, a dance move that looks like something in between the slow-motion bullet dodge from The Matrix and a future chiropractor bill.

"I think virtual reality is great," says Watts during a free moment between dance sessions. "When I was a kid I always liked the idea of the world of Narnia, the idea of moving through space in a different way. I think VR has always promised that. Now it's gotten to the point where it has fixed people feeling dizzy when they put it on, and we can experiment more freely."

He is presenting his latest virtual reality project Runnin at New Frontier 2019 - his second since 2013's surrealist romp Waves. Runnin is a VR experience that isn't quite a game, and is not exactly a music video. Runnin is something between a virtual space, an MC Escher dance party, a teleportational dance floor of the future, and a psychedelic record store afterparty of the past. Its developers at Double Eye Studios call it a dance experience that will take players on a "journey of musical expression."

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