‘Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire’ Disney World VR Attraction Gets New Trailer, Tickets on Sale

Tickets are now available for location-based VR company The VOID’s latest experience, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. The collaboration between Lucasfilm, ILMxLAB, and The VOID debuts on December 16th at Disney World, Florida and opens at Disneyland, California on January 5th.

Described as a “first of its kind hyper-reality experience”, The VOID uses customised VR headsets, props, backpack PCs, and commercial tracking technology in large, interactive sets to create an immersive environment for groups of players to enjoy simultaneously. The combination of dedicated props, interactive sets with real-time effects, and multiple tracked users in a single space takes VR gaming beyond what is normally possible at home.

First announced in August, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire is the result of Disney’s investment in The VOID as part of their tech-startup incubator program, Disney Accelerator. The VOID had already proven its technology to be highly effective and commercially viable with their first major production, Ghostbusters: Dimension, which opened at Madame Tussauds in New York, The Rec Room in Toronto, and the company’s headquarters in Lindon, Utah.

As described on the official website, the Star Wars experience involves groups of four players travelling to the molten planet of Mustafar, infiltrating the enemy base disguised as Stormtroopers with “danger at every turn”, tasked with recovering “Imperial intelligence vital to the rebellion’s survival.”

“We are so excited about this magical collaboration between three boundary-pushing companies in the burgeoning out-of-home VR entertainment sector,” says Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The VOID. “We can’t wait to share the experience of hyper-reality with everyone.”

“People have longed for a chance to step into the Star Wars universe and this incredible new hyper-reality experience will allow them to do just that in a totally unique way,” notes Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge, ILMxLAB. “It’s a group experience that evokes the senses in bold new ways.”

Though the experience doesn’t open until the end of the year, tickets for the 30 minute experience can already be pre-ordered at The VOID website, priced at $30.

The post ‘Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire’ Disney World VR Attraction Gets New Trailer, Tickets on Sale appeared first on Road to VR.

‘Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire’ Disney World VR Attraction Gets New Trailer, Tickets on Sale

Tickets are now available for location-based VR company The VOID’s latest experience, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. The collaboration between Lucasfilm, ILMxLAB, and The VOID debuts on December 16th at Disney World, Florida and opens at Disneyland, California on January 5th.

Described as a “first of its kind hyper-reality experience”, The VOID uses customised VR headsets, props, backpack PCs, and commercial tracking technology in large, interactive sets to create an immersive environment for groups of players to enjoy simultaneously. The combination of dedicated props, interactive sets with real-time effects, and multiple tracked users in a single space takes VR gaming beyond what is normally possible at home.

First announced in August, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire is the result of Disney’s investment in The VOID as part of their tech-startup incubator program, Disney Accelerator. The VOID had already proven its technology to be highly effective and commercially viable with their first major production, Ghostbusters: Dimension, which opened at Madame Tussauds in New York, The Rec Room in Toronto, and the company’s headquarters in Lindon, Utah.

As described on the official website, the Star Wars experience involves groups of four players travelling to the molten planet of Mustafar, infiltrating the enemy base disguised as Stormtroopers with “danger at every turn”, tasked with recovering “Imperial intelligence vital to the rebellion’s survival.”

“We are so excited about this magical collaboration between three boundary-pushing companies in the burgeoning out-of-home VR entertainment sector,” says Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The VOID. “We can’t wait to share the experience of hyper-reality with everyone.”

“People have longed for a chance to step into the Star Wars universe and this incredible new hyper-reality experience will allow them to do just that in a totally unique way,” notes Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge, ILMxLAB. “It’s a group experience that evokes the senses in bold new ways.”

Though the experience doesn’t open until the end of the year, tickets for the 30 minute experience can already be pre-ordered at The VOID website, priced at $30.

The post ‘Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire’ Disney World VR Attraction Gets New Trailer, Tickets on Sale appeared first on Road to VR.

VR Arcade Company THE VOID Joins Disney Accelerator Program

The Disney accelerator Program is now in its fourth year of operation. The Program is designed to help companies who Disney believe are creating the future of entertainment by offering them access to Disney’s leadership along with resources and support that they previouly could not have reached. This year’s additions to the program sees location-based virtual reality (VR) company THE VOID join the accelerator program.

THE VOID are perhaps best known for creating the out-of-home VR experience Ghostbusters: Dimension which has been exhibited at New York’s Madame Tussauds and will soon be launching at The Rec room in Toronto, Canada in association with Cineplex.

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Cliff Plumer, the CEO of THE VOID had this to say on joining the accelerator program: “Our team at THE VOID has created something amazing. And we could not be more honored to have that hard work and vision noticed by Disney. We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to work alongside these innovators who share our passion to create magical and memorable entertainment attractions,” Plumer said, “There is much to be learned from Disney, a company that crosses the boundaries of space and time, transcending languages and generations, bringing together people of all ages and nationalities. But most importantly, Disney brings more imagination, magic, and fantasy to the world. And we are inspired and motivated to embark on this next phase of our journey alongside them.”

Epic Games, the creators of the Unreal Engine that powers several VR titles and the creators of popular VR shooter Robo Recall have also joined the program.

“The Disney Accelerator has provided The Walt Disney Company incredible opportunities to connect with and be inspired by many talented entrepreneurs from all over the world,” said Michael Abrams, Senior Vice President, Innovation, The Walt Disney Company. “This year, more than ever, we are working with companies with the potential to help define the future of media and entertainment together with Disney.”

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on developments from within the VR industry.

Jaunt and OTOY Featured at Disney Accelerator’s 2016 Demo Day With VR Announcements

It seems like everyone is grabbing at the chance to work with Disney in the virtual reality (VR) space, and Disney has plenty of opportunities for companies, especially start ups, to get on board. Last week saw the conclusion of The Walt Disney Company’s third Disney Accelerator program, and two of the bigger start ups in the VR industry were there – Jaunt and OTOY.

During the Demo Day, Jaunt announced that it had licensed Disney Research’s cutting-edge VR video technology and will be collaborating with Disney Research to integrate it into Jaunt’s Cloud Services. As well as this, on that day Jaunt also announced its partnerships with ESPN to film several of this season’s College GameDay stops in VR, offering viewers behind the scenes access to the iconic show, tailgates, interviews and sideline action, as well as with Disney Shanghai.

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OTOY was part of the Demo Day also, who has made browsing of Disney, Marvel, ABC, ABC News, and ESPN websites available for Gear VR.

“Technology and innovation are at the heart of every experience at The Walt Disney Company, and Disney Accelerator puts us on the ground floor with some of the most promising startups in the world through a program aimed at accelerating the future of media and entertainment,” said Kevin Mayer, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of The Walt Disney Company in a press release.

For more on the latest developments in the world of VR, including all news, updates, and features, make sure to check back with VRFocus.