Awaken Asylum

Step into a haunting VR experience that explores the forgotten history of psychiatric institutions in Piedmont, Italy. Through an immersive first-person journey, uncover the dark past of mental health treatment while navigating through a meticulously crafted historical environment that brings to light a crucial chapter in Italian healthcare history.

Video Trailer

About

This psychological narrative experience takes place in an abandoned asylum, where players piece together fragments of memory through environmental storytelling. Beginning in a desolate room, you'll explore dimly lit corridors and interact with historically accurate objects that trigger vivid flashbacks to the institution's active period. Each discovered item reveals a new layer of the asylum's history and your own mysterious connection to it.

Key Scenes

• Dark Room Discovery: Explore your initial surroundings with ambient sounds and interactive objects
  
  
• Corridor Exploration: Experience atmospheric encounters with echoes of the past
  
• Infirmary Sequence: Participate in the daily medication routine
  
  
• Cell Block Drama: Navigate tense moments of inspection and discovery
  
• Electroshock Therapy Room: Witness powerful historical revelations
  
  

Controls

Movement	[W-A-S-D]
Interact with environment	[F]
Pick up items	[E]
Open Door	[Q]
Pause Menu	[ESC]

Development Team

Created by students at Politecnico di Torino:

Federico Colombo

Alberto Fulcheri

Alice Carlotta La Greca

Marta Colonna

Edoardo Ursi

Historical Context

This experience is based on extensive research into Piedmont's psychiatric institutions and the Basaglia Law of 1978, which revolutionized mental health care in Italy. The project aims to raise awareness about this important period in medical history and promote understanding of mental health treatment evolution.

Content Warning: This experience contains historical representations of psychiatric treatment and may be intense for some users. Not recommended for children.