Bruce Timm Helps Create A Virtual Reality Batcave You Can Live In Forever

Ever since virtual reality became a thing people were talking about back in the '90s, I have had exactly one question: When will it allow me to leave all you losers in the dust and just hang out with Batman? It's my fondest wish, a dream that I didn't think would ever come true, but now, it seems like we're one step closer.

This week, Warner Bros., DC Entertainment and OTOY Inc. announced that they were working with legendary artist and animator Bruce Timm to recreate the Batcave from Batman: The Animated Series that viewers will be able to enter and explore through technology like the Oculus Rift -- and, in the future, without the use of glasses at all.

Fittingly enough, the announcement was full of stuff that sounded like it was lifted directly from a comic, mentioning how OTOY's verison of the Batcave will involve "light-field rendering on the cloud" using "holographic streaming technology." It wouldn't have been out of place for them to mention that they were working on WayneTech SmartCloth™ that kept its shape when you ran an electrical charge through it, thus allowing users to glide between buildings with a cape. Still, with all that future-talk going on, it's pretty exciting stuff, and one of the most exciting bits of it was that they're allowing for the development of technology that would allow the Batcave to be projected around you, so that you could explore it without the use of glasses.

In other words, they are straight up Holodecking this stuff, and, for me at least, potentially removing the need to ever purchase furniture again. Why would you, when you could just project a robotic T-Rex into the corner?

Admittedly, the image that came with the announcement seems a bit Nintendo 64 for my taste, but with both Bruce Timm and Sam Register (the president of Warner Bros. Animation) involved, one hopes that they'll end up with something that captures the feel of the dramatic, art-deco designs of the original animated series.

As for what will actually be in the Batcave itself, the image released by OTOY shows off the Batcomputer (and Batman himself, presumably welcoming you to his anti-crime basement), and I'm going to go ahead and guess that the gigantic jet-powered Bruce Timm Batmobile is definitely going to make an appearance. Beyond that, though, I'd guess that we're going to see the standard decorations -- the T-Rex, the giant Joker Card and the Giant Penny -- and hopefully a trophy room with bits and pieces that he's taken from his villains over the years. It's always a treat when that sort of thing shows up on the show, or in the comics.

Since it's mean to be the Batman: The Animated Series Batcave, however, the one thing that I'd really like to see is the one thing that never made it into any other versions of the cave: Batman's room full of Grey Ghost merchandise and memorabilia.

Batman having a room in his basement full of complete nerd junk related to his favorite superhero is one of the best things that ever happened on that show.

OTOY's Batman: The Animated Series project is slated for its first release this winter.