Can’t really dance, ‘coz that would be to sudden a movement. But you can walk slowly through the room, and raise your arms and not be rained on (don’t wear dark colors, like my sister, or you will get a bit wet).
It was an interesting experience, they have sensors in the ceiling so that rain will avoid you, but at the same time it envelops you (see photos that my lil sis took for me). You can walk dramatically in the rain, but not get wet.
Rain was one of the metaphors I used to symbolize depression in my game. And like depression, rain is quite random, you can wake up one day and the entire room is gloomy and raining. That’s one of the reasons I was particularly interested in the Rain Room (their concept is more about the interaction between humans and nature though).
It’s a very simple concept but I think it has quite the impact and very very cool. To be honest, I’d be fine even if I just get to run around in actual indoor rain and get wet.
The venue was close to St Kilda beach, so afterwards we went to the beach and waited until sunset to see the little penguins at the pier. Little penguins are very very cute.
I’ve been trying to come up with something similar, an experience that can represent mental health and allow people to walk through and gain more understanding and empathy. My idea for simulating rain and depression was projecting on fog or mist, but haven’t fully fleshed it out yet.
Anyway, “Rain Room” is still on until end of January, so check it out.
Michelle Chen 