In the Playtest series of the Black Mirror series, a game developer uses a neural network to create a truly terrible horror setting. Machine learning has allowed a computer (sorry for the spoiler) not only to reveal the internal fears of a person, but also to strengthen them by mixing with each other.

Fans of horror in games feel pleasure from being deprived of some kind of suffering: it was scary, then they saved themselves and the fear disappeared or was on the verge of death, but managed to survive. However, over time, addiction develops: games (and movies) do not frighten as they did before, because we know what to expect from them. The Black Mirror says that there is room for further development for the Pugalok toolkit. Yes, and virtual reality as a whole leaves many opportunities for creating frightening entertainment.
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With the help of some technologies, it is possible to really scare a person and cause him a sense of danger, an awareness of being in a world where we all have only one life.

New level of horror in games

In the hormone game Nevermind, the difficulty level changes depending on the player’s emotional reaction.


Nevermind is an excursion into the minds of people who have experienced terrible psychological trauma. The player’s task is to “explore the most hidden, surrealistic and dark corners of people's subconscious”. The game reads the player’s biometric data - using the Nevermind heart rate monitor determines what difficulties you will encounter: if the pulse slows down, the game will become noticeably more difficult. In any case, the game requires a separate device that will read your heartbeat (for example, the NAOS QG mouse from Mionix has already learned how to determine the pulse).

Cosplay and masks

The first season of the Stranger Things series in 2016 left a deep imprint on the hearts of the makers.


Demogorgon - the main monster of the series - turned out to be easy to materialize in reality. There are a lot of costumes with his image (to a large extent with the image of his mouth), but the video above is clearly the best instance with a sliding jaw. This guy is able to scare even an adult.

What happens if you put a skeleton on a remote-controlled segway?


A speaker was also built into the skeleton, through which he could speak with passersby. Most people are really scared at the sight of this strange construction.
The idea with segway is not new. Three years ago, the copter was dressed up as a ghost. And it turned out a more impressive sight.


It is only necessary to fasten white tapes of thin fabric and two LEDs on a quadrocopter. Optionally add a camera and microphone.

Realistic Image Displays

One of the most famous viral commercials made in a similar prank-style.


Here, the person is allegedly frightened by a super-realistic and clear screen.

LG in this regard is clearly some kind of mania can be traced. They built the screen in the floor of the elevator.


It turned out really creepy sight. However, in reality, this is just a commercial (do not repeat at home).

Technophobia

“White” hackers call the security of the Internet of things a real nightmare, so the hacking video of smart bulbs got into this collection. Well, yes, before a sharp on / off light in the apartment could be attributed to the wiring or poltergeist, and now suddenly find yourself in complete darkness, possibly due to zero vulnerability.


The system managed to be hacked via the ZigBee Light Link wireless protocol using a quadrocopter for this purpose. It's funny that the technique of breaking Philips Hue light bulbs was published three years ago .

DIY

Since 2011, there has been a house in California that turns into an audiovisual installation for Halloween and Christmas.


It looks like a part of the festival "Circle of Light", but made with the help of led-tapes and arduino.

Neural networks and horror

Remember, at the beginning it was a neural network from the "Black Mirror"? In fact, science fiction is not so fiction. In the past few months alone, two news items have appeared, leading in the same direction. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has launched a "Nightmare Car": the grid, using an algorithm in the style of Vinci, creates gloomy urban landscapes from popular sights, and frightening portraits from celebrities. And in IBW, they all took on the horror movie trailer - with the help of Watson, of course.


IBM Watson coached 100 horror films on trailers. Then the computer "looked" new horror and chose from it the most suitable for the trailer scene. The day is not far off when the network will participate in all stages of film production.

Technology in the books

And finally, let us recall such an obsolete phenomenon for many, like a paper book. It is doubtful that a book in the genre of horror can scare someone (if you do not embed a suddenly jumping chupacabra into it), but this does not mean that the technology of conventional printing cannot be improved. “House of Leaves” is an example of a horror novel in which the format (and form) of the book is perfected in terms of expressiveness.


In House of Leaves, various experiments are conducted with narrative forms, complex and multilayered presentation forms are used, various typographical design of book pages is used, also known as visual or ergodic writing. It is possible (or even better) to repeat this in the e-book, but for some reason no one has succeeded.

Instead of conclusion

For the past Halloween, we have contributed to the creation of specific horror content. Warface has a lot of festive gear and a new card. A whole Feast of sinister pumpkin started in Skyforge, which lasted until November 16. In ICQ for Android prepared sinister three-dimensional masks. And inside the office, as always, was something .