Welcome to our weekly feature where we ask some of the industry’s leading developers and personalities 20 questions.

This week with chat to Alex Schwartz Founder of Owlehemy Labs.

State Your Name:

Alex Schwartz

What is your current Job / Role ?

I’m the Founder, CEO, and Janitor of Owlchemy Labs. We’re a small indie shop that focuses on creating unique and absurd original games. As for my role there, it basically means I wear a ton of hats and work on almost every part of every project we create. I’m also the resident juggler, Mac user, and Austin Texas occupant.

What are you most famous for ?

My dashing good looks. Oh, and also in the VR space, Aaaaaculus! would be our big thing. Outside of VR, Snuggle Truck and Jack Lumber were our two prior games on Steam/iOS/Android. Folks seemed to like those. J

What is currently on the desk in front of you ?

A [redacted] dev kit, a [redacted] HMD, a DK2, a wired Xbox 360 controller, a Starbucks mug of day-old coffee, a lens cleaner, a PS Move dock with 2 actively charging Move controllers, two old speakers, a 23” monitor, and two plush Portal cubes hanging from a nail above the monitor. Oh, also a mug that says “Fuck trees”. You’ll need to have played Jack Lumberr in order to understand that one.

What was your first VR experience ?

Skipping over the crappy arcade experiences I endured as a child, my first real foray into VR was actually with the Oculus Rift DK1. Yep!

Did you feel any sim sickness or do you ever feel any sim sickness ?

I definitely feel sim sickness more than my cofounder Devin but then again Devin has an iron stomach. I’d say I’m around the middle of the road when it comes to ease-of-inducing-sickness, which I think is a good thing –- you don’t want to create an experience that’s offputting to a large percentage of players so being sensitive yourself can be an asset in that regard. If you do have an iron stomach, getting fresh testers really is the only way to determine if you have something that’s pleasant to play.

What’s the longest amount of time you have spent in VR in one play session ?

About 90 minutes.

What’s the strangest experience you have had with VR ?

A number of development bugs have led to strange situations in VR, but one notable one was a disconcerting lack of bloom in one eye, but with bloom in the other eye. I had no idea why I was getting a headache 😉

What’s the funniest experience you have had with VR ?

Group VR playtesting sessions are always hilarious. Nothing can beat the feeling of guiding someone through their first VR experience. As for my own experiences, I wouldn’t say it was the “funniest” but more like “a time I had a big dumb grin on my face” — During my first playthrough of Sightline the Chair when the walls began closing in on me, I was so excited for what was about to happen. My brain could only think of Indiana Jones and how brilliant the developer was for creating that claustrophobic experience.

What game or hardware device are you currently working on ?

Our team is currently working on Dyscourse, the narrative adventure game we Kickstarted in November ’13 . In addition, we’re also working on two unannounced projects.

Do you have a release date in mind for your project ?

Dyscourse is coming to Steam the last week of January! We’re super excited. As for the other projects, I can’t speak to those just yet.

What is the biggest surprise you have had since you started to work in VR ?

It still surprises and amazes me that we’ve arrived at a once-in-a-career turning point with the widespread adoption of VR. I share Abrash’s unbridled excitement for the years to come and feel privileged to be a part of this revolution.

If you could only choose one game from your childhood to be remade for VR what would it be ?

Wow, uh, well, I suppose its not really *childhood* but I guess I’d love to play some Crazy Taxi VR. I spent un-Godly hours on that game in arcades and then on Dreamcast.

Besides games what do you think will be the most useful application for VR ?

Once resolution gets there, I think virtual desktops will be a hugely important application for VR.

What advice would you give to people on how to get into VR development ?

There’s not really any barrier to getting into VR development. A reasonable desktop computer and a publicly available development kit are all you need to get started. I would recommend anyone interested to just dive in and create something small!

What is your favorite VR related movie ?

Lawnmower Man was endearingly cheesy in a Blood Dragon kind of way.

If you had a crystal ball and could see 10 years into the future what developments in VR do you think will have happened?

I think we’ll be looking back on 2014 and on the work that’s being done today and scoff at how seemingly obvious the solutions to major technical challenges ended up being. I also think we’ll have arrived at a common lexicon for VR, much like touchscreens and how everyone now understands pinch-zoom or page turns or two-finger scroll, we’ll have standardized our design language and figured out much of the usability issues that plague us today. Hopefully someone will have figured out how to walk up stairs without getting sick 😉

Outside of VR what do you do to relax ?

I enjoy watching movies, and playing local multiplayer party games with friends.

What’s your current favorite VR experience that you have not developed your self ?

Sightline the Chair

Sum up how you feel about Virtual Reality in 6 words or less ?

A long road of romantic optimism.



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