Celebrate the 100th birthday of one history’s most influential figures in this immersive VR experience for the Oculus Go.

Philanthropist. Revolutionary. President. Very few individuals have managed to live a life as influential and accomplished as South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Throughout his many years fighting against apartheid in South Africa, the legendary humanitarian has suffered institutionalized racism, violence, even a prison term that would end up lasting a soul-crushing 27 years.

Despite all these hardships, however, Mandela still managed to emerged a better man, one that would eventually become a beacon of hope in a world marred by a regular stream of hate and violence. But how exactly did this noble descendent go from law student to anti-apartheid revolutionary?

Liliesleaf, a South African heritage site, in a partnership with VictoryVR and IQbusiness, is here to answer that question with Walking in Mandela’s Footsteps, an immersive VR experience which tells the incredible true story of Mandela’s life, from the humble village of Qunu, South Africa, where he was raised, to the terrifying jail cell where he was imprisoned for over two decades. It is there that users will be exposed to a haunting, 27 seconds of deafening silence.

“It has been a real pleasure and honour to work on such a dynamic, creative and erstwhile project. It is our best hope that this experience gives users the chance to better understand the foundations of Nelson Mandela’s life and the struggle for liberation he undertook.” (Nicholas Wolpe, CEO of Liliesleaf)

Throughout the 30-minute adventure, users will have the opportunity to learn more about the resolutionary by interacting with several digital versions of Mandela’s real-life possessions, rendered via a handheld scanner and imported into Unity. Various other objects, such as Mandela’s infamous pass book, were implemented using real-life photographs or scanned archives.

Walking in Mandela’s Footsteps is available in the Oculus Go. The experience will be released on the Vive Focus and Pico headsets shortly after the 100th celebration.

Source: Kyle Melnick, VRSCOUT