Though more and more people are discovering what it is like to spend time immersed in virtual reality (VR), the full high-end experience of VR is still out of reach for many, due to price or space or other issues. Out-of-home VR experiences can make up for this, such as the new VR arcade being set up by Augmentality Labs in Durham, North Carolina.
The Augmentality Labs VR Arcade has set up six high-end VR workstations equipped with HTC Vive headsets to allows customers to get the full experience of VR without having to pay large amounts of money for their own VR device. Each one of the VR stations offers 10 ft by 10 ft of walking space for room-scale VR, as well as a TV monitor to allow for friends and family to watch what is going on the in the VR world.
The VR Arcade is encouraging groups of people to come and experience VR together, whether that involves a group of friends all donning VR headsets to roam the VR landscape together, or if people take it in turns while watching the action on a monitor. The Augmentality Labs facility is offering group bookings as well as solo play.
The Augmentality Labs Arcade is scheduled to open on 22nd July, 2017. Bookings are already being taken on the official website. Pre-booked sessions will last for 30 mins each, with shorter ‘taster’ sessions for walk-in customers will also be available at 10 minutes.
Only one title has been confirmed as being available so far, with that being Space Pirate Trainer, a retro-inspired wave shooter. A trailer for Space Pirate Trainer can be viewed below. The staff have confirmed that other titles will be coming to the arcade based on recommendations and performance during testing.
VRFocus will bring you further information on out-of-home VR experiences once it becomes available.