Updated 7/22/16 12:00 PM:

Mr. Robot, as a show, is well known for its progressive plot featuring computer hacker Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) who is fed up with society. USA is taking that progressiveness to heart by using latest technology, such as Facebook Live, to introduce new content and by marketing the show in new and unique ways. During a conversation with the press at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, Malek discussed how much he appreciates the way USA markets its now signature show, Mr. Robot.

“I think they’re really progressive. Obviously, you’ll lose viewers when you take in the numbers watching the night of when [the show has been] leaked on Facebook three days before. It’s just progressive, its smart, it’s forward thinking from a network that was a step ahead in picking the show up in the first place. I have to thank Alexandra Shapiro and her team for being ahead of the game and thinking outside the box.”

Last year at this time, USA Network was just introducing Mr. Robot, a show that represented a big risk for the network and paid off quickly.

The show, which seems made for the Comic-Con crowd, is representing in San Diego for the first time this year, offering two immersive off-site fan experiences and a panel on Thursday at 6 p.m..

Press got an early look at the Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience on Wednesday evening, taking a quick tour through a replica of the Mr. Robot computer repair shop, through a duplicate of Elliot Alderson’s bare New York apartment and into the virtual-reality experience itself.

The entryway of the store, which comes fresh from the 1990s, features CRTs and other latest technology from 1994, and even has old gaming consoles for “sale.”

Further inside, guests walk into a perfect duplication of Elliot’s apartment. There, guests are given VR headsets, immersing them in the hacker-based world of Mr. Robot.

The 12-minute VR short is written and directed by showrunner, writer and director Sam Esmail, produced in partnership with Here Be Dragons and presented on Chris Milk’s Within Platform.

The VR short starts the viewer off in the same location that they are in IRL, Elliot’s room, and features content that adds to Mr. Robot‘s existing story. Guests take a trip with Elliot and girlfriend Shayla from his apartment to Coney Island, an important location in the show, and beyond.

Virtual reality works especially well for the Mr. Robot story because one of the show’s major plot points is how Elliot talks to his “imaginary friend,” and in this experience that friend is the viewer. To try it out for yourself during San Diego Comic-Con July 20-24, head over to 343 4th Ave., across from the Convention Center.

USA also is offering fans a special one-time opportunity to join the cast while trying out the experience. Doors will open at Petco Park at 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, and the VR experience will start at 10:45 a.m.

Would-be participants should download the Within VR app at with.in, noting that it works on iPhone 5S devices and above as well as Android devices running version 4.4 and above.

Once the app is downloaded, participants should open it and download the Mr. Robot VR Experience in advance of the event. To get in, attendees need to be at Petco Park’s Home Gate Entrance at 100 Park Blvd. no later than 10 a.m. PT. All attendees at Petco Park will receive custom Mr. Robot cardboard viewers to watch the VR, and the first 2,500 fans will receive Mr. Robot branded headphones.

Even fans who can’t make it to Comic-Con can join the co-viewing experience from wherever they are at 10:45 a.m. PT, they just have to download the content ahead of time.

Immediately following the premiere, the content will disappear from the Within app, much like the pilot which appeared on social media long enough for some alert fans to get an early look before it disappeared.

USA Network’s Mr. Robot, starring Rami Malek as Elliot Anderson, airs original episodes Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. ET.

[Images courtesy of Kristin Craik]

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