Impulse: Playing with Reality

Learning ∙ Narrative
4.3
31 ratings 17 reviews
release date
2024
September 12
game modes
• Singleplayer
player modes
• Standing • Sitting • Roomscale
compatibility
• Quest 2/Pro • Quest 3/3S
storage 1.9 GB
Store Page
$6.99 ended May 27
$7.99

🏆 Winner: Venice Immersive Achievement Award (81st Venice International Film Festival)

Explore ADHD Like Never Before

Narrated by Academy Award®-winner Tilda Swinton, IMPULSE: PLAYING WITH REALITY is a ground-breaking 40-minute mixed reality (MR) experience that transforms your surroundings. Witness the chaos, creativity, and intensity of ADHD.

ADHD is widely misunderstood. Many go undiagnosed, facing serious risks—including a suicide rate five times higher for adults with ADHD. Greater awareness can be life-changing.

Step Into Four Unique Stories

  • Leanne turns life into a game to escape boredom.
  • Omar thrives in chaos and high-stakes heists.
  • Errol adopts a madcap persona to earn respect.
  • Tara is on the brink of giving up.

🎮 Immersive MR Features

  • Fast-Paced Challenges: An impossible-to-win game mirrors ADHD’s struggle under pressure.
  • Reality in Flux: Shadows become portals, objects trigger chain reactions, and words spiral into chaos.
  • Immersive Empathy: Experience shifting environments and sensory distortions.

Created by Anagram, co-produced by Floréal & France Télévisions, and supported by Meta VR for Good, IMPULSE continues the acclaimed PLAYING WITH REALITY collection, following GOLIATH (2021), a Venice-winning, Emmy-nominated VR experience about psychosis.

🗞 Press Reviews

"These stories are undeniably exceptional." UploadVR

"A truly innovative use of Mixed Reality." The Hollywood Reporter

Now available in Mandarin and Spanish.

👁 Step inside the ADHD mind—play IMPULSE today

Mixed reality
comfort Comfortable
age rating13+ Teen
websiteimpulse-xr.io
developerAnagram
publisherAnagram, Floréal, France Télévisions
connectionInternet not required
app version1.0.6
languagesEnglish ∙ Chinese ∙ Spanish

Reviews 17

Ben2 days ago

Deep, meaningful, engaging, interesting, and incredibly creative. There are so many nice elements crammed into this well told story it makes other experiences feel lazy and short of ideas. In particular I really liked the mixed reality stuff. The fake shadows were a stroke of genius. I didn't love the visual design of the main narrative animations, but this is a top arts purchase for your quest.

Sarah63 days ago
5

Beautiful and Powerful

Impulse is more than just a game — it’s a vital, emotionally intelligent mixed reality experience that dares to tackle the complexities of mental health and neurodivergence. By placing the player inside the mind of someone living with ADHD, Impulse creates a powerful, immersive space where distractions, emotions, and coping mechanisms are not only visualised but deeply felt.

As someone with ADHD I'm glad this experience is being represented and hope there's opportunities to showcase the sheer diversity of what ADHD can be.

This experience is a meaningful step toward destigmatising mental health struggles, and it's fantastic to see it's ability to not only win accolades on the creative industries but see it brought into health and wellbeing contests as an educational tool.

Ace work, Anagram and everyone involved!

58 days ago

We set out to create something honest and embodied, that might speak not only to those with lived experience but also to those around them who are learning to understand. It’s encouraging to hear that intention came through with you, @STicho !

ADHD is incredibly diverse in how it shows up, and we hope Impulse adds to the growing conversation around its complexity. We're so glad it resonated with you and hope it sparks meaningful dialogue in and around your circles too.

Chris Hanney73 days ago
2

A deep joy

I loved Goliath, and absolutely loved this - Anagram keep pushing out the best interactive documentaries that feel both grand and personal. Impulse is a joy.

58 days ago

Each work is a few years in the making, so to know you connected with both means a lot to us @hanney!

Christian Lamb5 months ago

Wow!! Incredible MR Experience!!

Didn't realize this would be a full mixed reality experience... so well done!! Another wow experience for me and I'm 6 months into using my quest 3. I do wish there was an option for HD as the animated portion of the film feels low rez. Loved the feel of this film though and that I was part of the experience. One of the best mr experiences I've had. Keep them coming.... please!! 🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️✌️

4 months ago

Hey @amerDad4Life, thank you for the awesome feedback! 🙌 We’re so glad you had an incredible time with the mixed reality experience, especially being 6 months into using your Quest 3. That’s saying something! 🎮✨🔥

NotLawReview6 months ago
23

I feel seen for the first time

As someone who has dealt with ADHD their whole life, this is far and away the best depiction of the challenges of living with ADHD that I have seen in any medium. I haven't had such a visceral, emotional reaction to something in years. To the creators of this - thank you.

4 months ago

Hi @NotLawReview Thank you for sharing this—it really means a lot to hear the experience connected with you in such a real way. Capturing the moments and challenges of living with ADHD in an honest, relatable way was so important to us, and knowing it resonated with you makes all the effort worth it.

Tim7 months ago
5

Rather annoying really.

Unless you are really interested in what goes on in the mind of a person/s with ADHD this interactive thingy is incredibly dull. When it starts it lulls you into thinking you actually might be playing a game, there are some game like mechanics. But you suddenly realise the games are unwinnable and that's where all interactivity stops, that's about 10% in, the rest is just different people with ADHD explaining what goes on in their heads. Thats it, that's all you get, a 20 min "this is what ADHD is like" preachy mixed reality mess. This app tries terribly to make a point but it's seriously lacking any emotional punch. So all in all if you don't like expensive propaganda then stay away from this. You can learn a whole lot more about ADHD by grabbing a free pamphlet at you doctors ( free ) or simply searching on the net ( also free ).

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