Aboard The Cerberus: Virtual Tour


VR Review  ★★★☆☆‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
Quest  Free  History  Comfortable  Roomscale  Stationary 

The image shows a 3D rendering of a ship on water with the text “Aboard the Cerberus” in an ornate script font. The ship appears to be a military vessel, with a gun turret on top. The background features a sky with hues of purple and pink, suggesting either dawn or dusk, and there is smoke trailing from the ship’s stack.

Come aboard the HMVS Cerberus, an Australian naval vessel that served the country between 1871 and 1924. Fitted with twin rotating gun turrets and the first British warship to be propelled by steam, this ship was tasked with patrolling the southwest coast of Australia for her entire lifespan. Basing a VR experience on a warship that never saw any action or other notable event is something of a bafflement, but the experience does offer insight into what it took to operate a piece of late nineteenth century naval engineering.

Aboard The Cerberus is predominantly a hands-off experience, a 35 minute presentation that takes part in key positions around the ship with brief moments where you'll need to shovel some coal or winch a gun to continue. The interactive elements might add some fun for younger audiences and the script does provide meaningful enlightenment, but the story is told at slow pace that it struggles to engage. Graphics are uninspired for a 2022 experience, but they do illustrate enough detail to be educational.

The image shows a 3D-rendered scene of a ship’s deck with the ocean in the background. In the foreground, there is a large wooden ship’s wheel with brass accents, and behind it sits an individual wearing an orange life vest. To the left stands another individual dressed in a sailor’s uniform, looking out to sea. The sky is clear with few clouds, suggesting fair weather for sailing. There are two lifeboats attached on either side of the deck and various other nautical equipment present.
Colorful but basic visuals for a modern VR experience.

Though this is mostly a stationary experience you'll need to be standing to see whats going on around you. Poor camera placement makes it difficult to enjoy as a seated experience, and the lack of snap-turning support is unforgivable for a modern VR production.

Overall Aboard The Cerebus is underwhelming in both subject and presentation. The basic interactive features and the limited viewing positions don't make for a compelling virtual reality experience, and if you're interested in the subject matter we honestly think you'd be more comfortable with the static YouTube playthrough that we've embedded below. Also, for an app that hopes to educate we were disappointed that the production team didn't seem to know the difference between the words naval and navel in the credits sequence.

There is a character in the center wearing a grey jumpsuit, wielding a pickaxe with both hands. The character’s face is obscured by a brown rectangle, possibly to anonymize them. The environment looks like an underground or enclosed space with stone walls and metal doors, illuminated by wall-mounted lanterns. Small fires are scattered on the ground around the character, adding to the dramatic atmosphere of the scene.
Shoveling coal in the belly of the ship.

The image shows a digital interface titled “Aboard the Cerberus” with five sections: Introduction, Chapter I, Chapter II, Chapter III, and Conclusion, covering years from 1871 to 2022. Each section has an associated image: a ship for the Introduction, a man in front of rigging for Chapter I, two men at sea for Chapter II, a war scene for Chapter III, and an empty chair facing the sea for the Conclusion. The backdrop features a sunset at sea with two seagulls in the foreground and part of a ship visible on the left.
Revisit any chapter at your leisure.

Summary:
Green Icon Detailed storyline with educational content
Red icon Slow presentation that's hard to engage with
Red icon Basic VR interactions don't add much value
red icon Stationary but not suitable for seated experiences

Supported Languages:
English 

External Links:
Wikipedia  YouTube:Full Content 

Product Links:
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© 2024 Copyright Stuart Green all rights reserved. Content provided without warranty of accuracy. Reproduction requires explicit consent. Some copyrighted images used under fair use doctrine for review purposes.  XX