Dream Reality Interactive

How a group of SingStar and VR veterans are finding inspiration beyond games

- Edwin Evans-Thirlwell

Videogames can be peculiarly hidebound creatures, dominated by conventions that are opaque to outsiders, in thrall to a small collection of pop-culture precedents, from Tolkien to Aliens. One of the less-sung benefits of latter-day virtual and augmented reality technology has been to let in a bit of fresh air – multiplying the points of contact with other artists and industries, all lured by the idea of entertainment platforms that set less store in questions of skill or dexterity. Few developers have embraced this opportunity like Dream Reality Interactive, the White City, London-based independent founded by ex-Sony London studio director David ranyard in 2016.

During its short life, Dream Reality has covered plenty of ground, much of it familiar territory. It has developed a beautiful and usefully platform-agnostic VR maze game, Arca’s Path, in which players guide an orb with their eyes, and a charming mobile AR puzzler, Orbu, in which you slingshot critters around verdant obstacle courses. But it has also looked for collaborators beyond videogames, teaming up with the Natural History Museum and Factory 42 to create the VR app Hold The World, in which users handle whale bones and fossils under the eye of a holographic David Attenborough. It has contributed to Bounce Works’ Apart Of Me, a mobile game designed to help young people cope with bereavement, and is embroiled in a number of projects for healthcare practitioners and educators.

Much of this reflects the polymathic persona and career of Ranyard himself, a garrulous son of Sheffield who has never quite fit the executive stereotype. Before entering the world of gaming as a programmer on This Is Football, he ran a vintage clothing store and played in a band, releasing two albums with Warner Bros-owned China Records. Despite leaving school at the age of 16, he also managed to complete a PhD in artificial intelligence at the University of Leeds.