Immersive VR experience coming to Chicago lets you explore the Titanic

The man in the deep-sea diving gear invited me on board the submersible and, for a split-second, I thought: Is this safe? Should I really be doing this?

After all, the contraption was mostly glass, and we would be descending into a suffocating darkness before reaching the world’s most famous shipwreck.

But then I remembered, I’d been advised a little earlier to simply relax and fully embrace the experience.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

I climbed aboard. The actual Titanic sank 141 years ago on April 15.

Yes, “Titanic: A Voyage Through Time” is realistic — no, that’s not quite the right word.

But you do have the sensation of being in a three-dimensional world, even though you’re actually on dry land, wearing a virtual reality headset as you traipse through a giant gallery space in the Old Town neighborhood.

When the ocean rolls, you may instinctively flinch and reach for a handrail that isn’t there. Or when you are transported to Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, where thousands of well-wishers line the docks, you may hesitate, nervously eyeing the gangplank leading to the doomed passenger ship and wonder, Is that sturdy enough to support my weight?

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“The stairs are always the weird one for people — when you’re going up or down the staircase in the ballroom, it can be a little challenging if you’re not used to virtual reality,” said Parker Lee, the assistant site manager for the Titanic experience.

“Titanic” is expected to open later this month at 108 W. Germania Place. A ticket for the 45-minute adventure starts at $24.99 for adults and $19.99 for students, seniors and children 10 and up (the VR headsets aren’t designed for little kids). For more information, go to titanicexperiencevr.com/chicago. The experience is presented in English and Spanish.

Guests start out exploring the wreck, and then they are led — by members of the crew — to different parts of the ship, both above and below deck, as it makes its way toward disaster.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

“Titanic” offers a “powerful and deeply human journey through one of history’s most compelling maritime stories,” according to the promotional material.

Deeply moving? For those people whose hearts raced and eyes misted over during James Cameron’s 1997 epic, you may find yourself yearning for Leonardo DiCaprio’s cocky hero Jack Dawson leaning into the wind on the ship’s prow and yelling, “I’m the king of the world!”

And when you’re escorted into your VR first-class cabin, you won’t find a disrobed Rose (Kate Winslet’s character in the movie), reclining so that you can sketch her likeness.

That’s because this Titanic’s experience puts the focus on the historical characters, including the ship’s captain and architect. But rather than listening to them boast about the ship’s innumerable safety features, I found myself staring at their oddly glowing faces and creepily cold eyes — none of which detracts from the experience because I know how this story ends.

The experience took about 15 months to put together, said Emma Shaffer, a project manager with Fever, the entertainment company behind Titanic.

“This is specifically something we wanted to get pretty historically accurate. So we worked from the original plans of the Titanic,” said Shaffer, who is based in New York.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Fever pulled in animators, screenwriters, programers, sound designers, among others, in a team of 30 people.

The experience works best when you’re transported, virtually speaking, to the Belfast shipyard and you stare up at the ship’s colossal hull as it’s transformed — like a time-lapse movie from a skeletal frame to a steel-clad behemoth. Or when you’re dockside preparing to board the ship and you’re given a stern-to-bow view of the White Star Line’s pride and joy.

The show falls a bit flat when you’re in the oddly sterile dining room. It was at that point that I wished one of the helpful real-life staff members would approach and gently poke a caviar-topped cracker in my mouth.

What’s also missing, in my experience, was something to tickle the nostrils, like the scent of sea air perhaps. They’re working on that, Shaffer said.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Participants are encouraged to wander around the deck, the boiler room and other parts of the ship. And while I never ran into any walls or other people, I took mostly timid steps — just in case. A VR grid appears to warn you of an approaching wall.

I was basically roaming alone, except when Chicago Sun-Times photographer Anthony Vasquez joined me exploring the wreck of the Titanic. So there was little danger of bumping into other people, who appear as blue avatars when they’re participating. The experience allows for a maximum group size of six, and the venue can accommodate up to 25 people navigating the VR ship at one time.

The experience concludes with, you guessed it, the ship plowing into an iceberg and all of the overly confident ship’s officers running around in a panic.

I was relieved to find myself — all but alone, as it turns out — in a lifeboat, which only seems fair given that I needed to get back to shore to write this story.