Her focus is on teaching sign language – and doing it VRChat more inclusive and welcoming for deaf users – feels extra bold in an environment where most people seem to be focused on gaming. Both have endured immense loss and pain, and through a virtual fantasy space, both have found uplifting ways to support and help other people. But Jenny and Ray’s relationship feels less like a familiar story. VRChat adds a new angle as it’s akin to remotely playing a giant free-form video game together – the couples can date in virtual worlds, hang out with friends or alone, and even have an elaborate VRChat wedding of their own stage yourself. Some of the other stories of emotional connection are old hat at this point given how many people now have to find their partners through digital spaces and then bridge the physical distance between them. This duo’s bond says everything Hunting is trying to convey in this film. In the film’s most moving segments, a young woman identified as “Jenny” gives sign language seminars, discusses her harrowing past, and translates stories about an equally harrowing past of “Ray”, a deaf friend who only communicates through signing in VR. A small group - two cartoonish “space dogs,” a giant stick-legged hot dog, and a bespectacled Mogwai - talk about the freedom their members feel when they can express themselves however they want.
![hot vrchat avatars hot vrchat avatars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oxm-m7Sr0N4/maxresdefault.jpg)
Two different couples discuss how they met on the platform and how they are navigating their real-life long-distance relationships, especially during the COVID quarantine that has kept them from visiting each other. We met in virtual reality finally settles into more relevant and emotional territory as Hunting gets its core issues alone for serious conversation. in the VRChatpeople chatter casually so the scene is also a jumble of intersecting voices reacting to what they are experiencing in the VR space. Viewers do not meet the contestants personally or hear from the sim’s developers about their intentions or process.
![hot vrchat avatars hot vrchat avatars](https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FirmSoggyAmericanshorthair-mobile.jpg)
The driving simulation segment is surprisingly long, but doesn’t speak to Hunting’s central ideas at all – it’s just a bunch of random users romping around their virtual space with a new toy. Such sequences also make the strengths and weaknesses of the documentary film equally clear. The car that the beta group is test driving is impressively detailed and realistic, but the simulation’s physics are iffy: characters protrude through the car in all directions, and the avatars’ breasts flap wildly in the wind as if the platform were becoming body parts interpret hair or clothing as trailing. An early foray into one of these worlds in the making – a driving sim that lets users traverse a scenic route along winding roads and towering cliffs – is a fun window into it VRChats strengths and weaknesses. The Doc just jumps right into observing events, like the showcase where people present new things VRChat Spaces they develop for users to navigate.
![hot vrchat avatars hot vrchat avatars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gAxQY-IZCP8/maxresdefault.jpg)
Part of Hunting’s commitment to shooting entirely within VRChat is that he doesn’t take time off the platform to explain his goals or the setting. But for most viewers, it’s more of a confusing, exciting, context-free introduction to the fantasy world itself. This is a film designed to acquaint viewers with the true emotions that people bring to their escapist fantasy worlds. The contrast is staggering, and it’s hard to keep the chaotic environment from belittling what’s going on beneath the surface.
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It’s heavy stuff - but these talks are taking place in a noisy cartoon carnival full of mix-and-match animal-robot-monster hybrids and near-naked anime characters with outlandish anatomy falling from skimpy fetish gear. Many of his subjects tell hair-raising stories from their past, from alcoholism and addiction, family tragedies, abuse, mental illness and even a suicide attempt. Director Joe Hunting used a virtual camera tool to shoot the entire film inside VRChat, where users talk to him about how they’ve used the platform to get close to other people and form relationships that sometimes spill over into real life. Viewers unfamiliar with the virtual reality hangout platform VRChat might find it difficult to grasp the meaning of what its users are saying in the documentation We met in virtual reality, because there are so many surprising distractions.
![hot vrchat avatars hot vrchat avatars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBbRoOB1Dz4/sddefault.jpg)
It has been updated for the film’s exclusive release on HBO Max. This review by We met in virtual reality was originally released following the film’s premiere at the 2022 Sundance International Film Festival.