This story is featured in befores & afters
Immersive Experience from the Perspective of a Negro League baseball player
BARNSTORMERS: DETERMINED TO WIN, I AM A MAN, DEREK HAM
From Derek Ham, the award-winning creator of the VR experience, “I Am A Man” comes the next big history-themed VR project, “Barnstormers: Determined to Win, is an interactive VR experience set to the backdrop of the Negro Baseball League. The immersive experience is a historical fiction piece allowing the players to experience people and places from the perspective of a Negro League baseball player.
Through a partnership with the Negro League Baseball Museum, funding from the Epic Games Mega Grant, and partnership with Reallusion (the creators of iClone and Character Creator), we bring Negro League Baseball to life as they celebrate their 100th anniversary. This project will be produced under the umbrella of the “Our Civil Rights” VR series.


In this VR experience, users will face certain struggles in playing the game of baseball during the time of racial segregation. This project is sure to be a hit for people of all ages as you face off with baseball legends such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Buck O’Neil.
Creator, Derek Ham, with the Logic Grip AxeOne for the Oculus controllers, connects them for an alternative VR controller for a solid two-handed stick like a baseball bat.
The Axe One is more than an aesthetic peripheral. This patent-pending design allows your controllers to lock in place giving you an on-axis grip during gameplay. This revolutionizes the way we interact in virtual environments.
Logic Grip is an NC State University official startup that was spun out of the College of Design’s Mixed Reality Lab (MxRLab). This lab serves as the research and development arm for startups. The MxR Lab is constantly developing new concepts, prototyping, and conducting user experience studies to help bring new products to market.
Read the interview story on befores & afters: https://beforesandafters.com/2021/07/22/re-creating-an-important-time-in-baseball-history-in-vr/