Experience a classic nuclear weapons test up-close in VR

In this 360-degree VR video, you can experience the wonder and joy of a classic nuclear explosion up-close: the Ivy Mike test, introducing the world to the destructive power of hydrogen bombs. Welcome to Enewetak Atoll! You're a few kilometers from the test site, the weather's lovely, and you can look any direction you like.

Be there on the beach in paradise when the worlds first hydrogen bomb Ivy Mike is detonated in 1952. Watch a linear 360-degree video version of Yles VR experience "Paradise" that transports you straight to the heart of the Pacific Ocean, to Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

"Paradise" was filmed and produced by Yle journalists. The nuclear blast effects were modeled as realistically as possible by Teatime Research.

Download the VR experience here for free: yle.fi/paradise

Don't skip to the good bit: I recommend experiencing the countdown for a full dose of anxiety, wondering if it might be possible to survive by burrowing into the sand or running into the water, only to realize you cannot move an inch.

The odd place it takes you to after the explosion is the Runit Dome, the concrete tomb where they buried the most contaminated material after the tests.

See also A Day in Pompeii, a realistic depiction of the eruption of Vesuvius. The point of view is fixed, like footage from a 1st-century security camera. It starts slower, with plenty of time to get out of there, and the same sinking feeling when you realize it's too late. Read the rest