Carlin’s penchant for drama and storytelling is obvious from the start of War Remains. After donning a VR headset and backpack computer, I took a step forward and found myself in the basket of a hot air balloon. I peered over the edge — all the while holding onto the straw basket in real life — and saw airships and a gray landscape lit up with ammunition firing. Explosions rumbled beneath me, and I felt the floor shake. As Carlin explained, these observation balloons were used to map out battlefields. It wasn’t too long before a virtual map appeared in front of me, set atop a wooden podium on the side of the basket. When I reached down to touch it, I was surprised to actually feel worn wood underneath my fingers.

“When we talked about what to do, there are so many things I’d like to,” Carlin said in an interview at Tribeca. “When we started this, it was the centennial of the first World War. And it’s one of those things where it seems to be close enough to us, so that it’s easier to relate. My grandfather fought in this war, it’s not that long ago. If I took you back to ancient Rome, it’s going to be awesome, but it’s going to be a lot harder [to relate]. I felt the emotions are close to the surface [with World War I]. And in the US, we feel this war a lot less than they do in other countries. The depth of emotion that’s already right there to be tapped, it just seemed like the sweet spot for us.”

Carlin says he and his team also considered the limitations of VR when they were conceiving the project. After seeing plenty of other experiences, at one point he was confronted with a VR figure standing in front of him. He realized the closer he got, the less real it seemed. “The last thing you want to do is have an experience that’s this intense, and then take you out of it,” he said.