Aperture Hand Lab is a virtual reality video game created by Cloudhead Games and
Valve Software and released in June 25, 2019, serving as the
Tech-Demo Game for Valve Index controllers. The game takes place in
Aperture Science laboratory, where an artificial intelligence performs an experiment on robots to simulate the common interactions between humans.
Aperture Hand Lab contains examples of:
- Alliterative Name: The personality cores have alliterative names: Friendly Frank, Angry Allen, Business Bill, and Deceptive Devin (or is it Kevin? It's not! Or is it?).
- An Arm and a Leg: During your exercise with Business Bill, when he asks you to shake harder, you end up breaking off his arm, and the entire machine starts malfunctioning, plunging you down to the lower levels of the laboratory.
- Angry Fist-Shake: One of the exercises pits you against a bully-like robot named Angry Allen who threatens you by shaking his fist, and you are required to do the same. Later, he tries to threaten you with double-shake, and when you perform the same, he gets dropped into the pit, and you progress to the next exercise.
- Crushing Handshake: After Business Bill urges you to give him "real" handshake, you end up crushing his hand so hard it breaks off, resulting in the entire machine malfunctioning and breaking down, sending you into the pit.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Friendly Frank tends to be very repetitive when talking.
Friendly Frank: Hello! I am Frank, a friendly human! I like you, so I am waving, to you. To consummate this wave exchange, raise your hand, open it, then swing it gently, from side to side. That is waving. It means you like me, like I like you, which I am demonstrating by waving.
- Developer's Foresight:
- In the start, the game has unique messages when you wait too long before exiting the elevator or moving to the platform. In the elevator, the announcer starts repeatedly urging you to exit the elevator before giving you the back-up exercise: "achieving excellence while standing in an elevator", and then, after you "complete" it, it gives you the next exercise: "achieving excellence by exiting the elevator". The game also has similar messages about approaching the platform as well.
- The game also acknowledges when you are Flipping the Bird to the personality cores.
- Flipping the Bird: You can do that to the personality cores. They actually acknowledge when you do that.
Friendly Frank: That is NOT a wave; that is a finger! The unfriendliest finger on the entire hand!
Angry Allen: Well, that is disrespectful. But it's not a shake, so I'll allow that.
Business Bill: You're fired. Now you're rehired, probationally.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: Deceptive Devin challenges you to "a game of deceit, as old as hands", the game in question being rock-paper-scissors. If you win twice, he'll start cheating by replacing his choices, and the game will register it as his victory.
- Tech-Demo Game: This game was released to demonstrate the capacities of the new Valve Index controllers.
