Turns out VR works on chimps too, and they react just like us humans
Monkey business
Well, I have the answer to a question you’ve probably never, ever asked: yes, VR does work on monkeys. And turns out they love it. It looks like the chimp in question is playing a balloon-popping game, which Myrtle Beach Safari posted to Imgur way back in 2016. Thanks to the ebbing and rolling tides of the internet the video has resurfaced and you can see the full thing in action below:
Chimp testing out VR 😂Source: https://t.co/ypl14kzyNe pic.twitter.com/fm3pQRIoAcNovember 20, 2016
What’s incredible is how quickly the chimp gets to grip with the game itself, actively walking around to pop more balloons and holding the VR headset to its face to make sure it doesn’t fall off. The primates have the intelligence of the average two-year-old child, so if you wanted to replicate this experiment instead of asking a zookeeper some suspicious questions about the availability of chimps you can always use a toddler. Your own toddler, obviously. We don’t want a Netflix style chimp-toddler-VR documentary.
If you want to experience the same joy as this chimp, here are the best PSVR games to play right now or take a look below to see the games you should keep an eye out for in 2019!
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
While here at GamesRadar, Zoe was a features writer and video presenter for us. She's since flown the coop and gone on to work at Eurogamer where she's a video producer, and also runs her own Twitch and YouTube channels. She specialises in huge open-world games, true crime, and lore deep-dives.