All it took was a flippant remark from Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey to inspire a group of artists to create their own Manga-style Oculus Rift mascots. Welcome the Oculus-chan!
Enter The Oculus-Chan
a japanese honorific, or suffix added to the end of one’s name. chan is usually used when: 1. the person is a small child, ie, younger sibling or friends sibling
2. the person is cute, usually younger, usually a girl
..is the Urban Dictionary’s definition. Those of you who’ve immersed yourself in Japanese Anime culture will probably be familiar with this regularly used suffix. Depending on the context, it be used as a short-hand for cuteness or something altogether less savoury. In any case, the aesthetic it usually represents is hugely popular in Japan and since the initial popularisation of Manga and Anime culture in the west during the 80s and 90s (often closely associated with gaming culture), has found a place in ours too.
Unity-chan is an Anime style character that was introduced late last year in order to help popularise the use of the game engine Unity. The character featured in a Unity demo used to illustrate the engine’s and spawned a dedicated website and blog too. At Unite Japan 2014, an event series dedicated to showcasing Unity technologies and projects Oculus Rift inventor Palmer Luckey quipped that, perhaps Oculus VR should look to adopt just such a mascot. That was all it took .. Oculus-Chan was born.
Within days, dozens of renditions appeared from artists who offered up their idea of exactly what Oculus-Chan should look like. The designs vary, although that distinct ‘chan’ cuteness is infused in all of them, as you’d expect. There also seems to be an obsession with trying to craft clothing out of the Rift’s now iconic design. Below is a selection of those we’ve dug from the mines of the Internet. Which one’s do you think work and why? Let us know in the comments below. You can view more Oculus-chan artwork and find out more on the artists responsible here.
Our thanks to “Techni Myoko” for the tip!