UK-based Immotion Group is a specialist in location-based entertainment (LBE), installing aquatic virtual reality (VR) experiences in two North American aquariums recently, as well as having several VR locations around the UK. Today, the company has announced a new $500,000 USD contract with iP2Entertainment to produce three exclusive VR experiences.
iP2Entertainment is a global family entertainment specialist based in Amsterdam. Details such as themes or what the VR experiences will feature content wise haven’t been revealed, but Immotion Group is scheduled to complete all the work by November 2019. iP2Entertainment centres’ visitors will then be able to view the content later this year and into 2020.
“iP2Entertainment are well recognised as being one of the leading players in the ‘out of home’ immersive entertainment space. Having the opportunity to work with them in the creation of some cutting-edge VR experiences will not only deliver valuable revenue for the studio but also help us further develop and showcase our skill set in this exciting market, whilst providing access to some exciting new content,” said Martin Higginson, Group CEO, Immotion Group, in a statement.
Immotion Group’s most recent work was 360-degree video Swimming with Humpbacks, the first instalment in Immotion’s Blue Ocean Aquarium series. Captured by cinematographer Jeff Hester, the film provides a rare glimpse and insight into the giant Humpback whale as they migrate from Antartica to the Kingdom of Tonga during mating season.
iP2Entertainment, having previously worked with National Geographic and DreamWorks, aims to immerse families in the worlds of the brands and characters they already know, with experiences that are both fun and educational.
“We are very pleased to have Ian and his team on board for the creation of several immersive media experiences for our family entertainment centres. Immotion is recognised as one of the best in the world in the creation of top-quality immersive media content productions,” adds Roger Houben, co-founder and CEO of iP2. “We look very much forward to working with them on this prestigious project. Hopefully the start of a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”
As further details on the three VR experiences are revealed, VRFocus will let you know.
Last month, UK-based virtual reality (VR) company Immotion Group – which specialises in location-based entertainment (LBE) – announced a new experience called Swimming with Humpbacks. This caught the attention of several zoo’s and aquariums, prompting two North American aquariums to order installations from Immotion.
The company will install a range of VR cinematic motion pods at Odysea Aquarium, in Scottsdale, Arizona, and The Maritime Aquarium, in Norwalk, Connecticut – two major aquariums which have a total footfall exceeding 1.5 million customers per year. This continues Immotion Group’s success which recently saw the company win a contract with Merlin Entertainments Plc. to add its VR platform to Lego Discovery Centre, Legoland, and SeaLife locations.
“We are thrilled to have signed up three major aquariums so quickly after the release of our “Swimming with Humpbacks” VR movie. Demand for immersive ”Edutainment’ is growing, and interest from the zoo and aquarium industry is at an all-time high,” said Rod Findley, Group Commercial Director, Immotion Group in a statement. “Immotion Group can deliver something new and unique to their customers, while also providing valuable ancillary revenue. Working in partnership with larger venues we are able to install a tailored solution at no cost to the venue, rather providing on-going revenue share agreement, creating solid annuity revenues for both parties.”
Due to the interest generated, Immotion Group is developing more content for this new audience as part of its Blue Ocean series of underwater VR experiences, which Swimming with Humpbacks is the first instalment.
A 360-degree video, Swimming with Humpbacks provides a rare glimpse and insight into one of the ocean’s most mysterious creatures, the giant Humpback whale. Cinematographer Jeff Hester was brought in to film the whales as they migrated from Antartica to the Kingdom of Tonga during mating season.
“We are thrilled to be able to film in VR some of the most amazing ocean creatures. It was a pleasure to film the Humpbacks,” Ken Musen, Director of Immersive Live Action at Immotion Group adds. “What the team has managed to capture is truly amazing. In the next month, we will set off to film sharks, which for way too long have been vilified. This new film will allow our customers to get up close and personal with these majestic creatures.”
As Immotion Group continues to add more locations, VRFocus will ket you know.
Location-based virtual reality (VR) specialist Immotion Group has brought its technology to a number of locations across the UK, including Birmingham’s Star City and Weston-super-Mare’s Grand Pier. This week, the company has announced a new VR experience coming to its centre’s, Swimming with Humpbacks.
An immersive live-action title, Swimming with Humpbacks provides a rare glimpse and insight into one of the ocean’s most mysterious creatures, the giant Humpback whale. The first instalment in Immotion’s Blue Ocean Aquarium series, cinematographer Jeff Hester was brought in to film the whales as they migrated from Antartica to the Kingdom of Tonga during mating season.
“At Immotion, we are always looking to push the boundaries of VR. What we’ve managed to capture is truly breath-taking. The film provides an incredible insight into these elusive creatures,” said Martin Higginson, CEO of Immotion Group in a statement. “The experience makes full use of the visual, sound and motion capabilities of our VR Cinematic motion pods to deliver our customers something ground-breaking and memorable. We are excited about future instalments of our Blue Ocean Aquarium series, and demonstrating the power of VR to engage and thrill audiences.”
“This is a truly remarkable achievement to get so near to such a magnificent and endangered species. One of the great challenges was that our cinematographer, Jeff Hester, couldn’t scuba dive around the whales as the bubbles it generated would have disturbed them,” adds Ian Liddell, Immotion’s Group Creative Director. “He had to hold his breath for up to four minutes at a time while keeping up with the whales. Each whale can weigh 40 tonnes and move at speeds of 15mph. “At certain points, our camera is just three inches away from the whales’ pectoral fins. From seeing them show dominance by rolling over and flapping their fins, a mother bonding with her calf, to the young whales gaining their independence – we’ve captured it all.”
Exclusively available on Immotion’s VR Cinematic motion pods across the UK, in the near future Swimming with Humpbacks will be available to the public at home through PlayStation VR, as well as iOS and Android. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
It seems that while consumer virtual reality (VR) sits at a crossroads, the digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) sector has exploded with new developments – not one day seems to pass without major announcements, partnerships or acquisitions hits the wire. Industry specialist Kevin Williams of KWP, gives his unique perspective on the recent developments and offers some exclusive insights into some recently visited new projects.
Following on from the developments that we covered at the first Microsoft LBE VR Summit (read part one and two here), and momentum continues to build in the commercial entertainment sector. These investments are being registered across the industry, and some of the once previous advocates for a consumer approach to this latest phase of VR adoption. This was best illustrated by Unity CEO, John Riccitiello, quoted at a recent TechCrunch Disrupt event, feeling that we have yet seen a true consumer launch of a VR or augmented reality (AR) headset; stating “AR and VR is mostly to this day been launched to developers”. But Riccitiello continued that he had been impressed by how fast enterprise had latched on to VR and AR tech, surprised that the commercial applications have preceded the consumer applications.
Though an obvious progression for those of us that work in the DOE sector, this realisation has struck most consumer-facing VR developers, and most recently we saw the pivoting of major VR success stories in the consumer sphere, build a commercial entertainment offering. This was best illustrated by Vertigo Games, developers behind the successful consumer VR title Arizona Sunshine, with an estimated $1.4 million (USD) in generated sales on the PC platform. The company has decided to spin out a unique location-based videogame division called Vertigo Arcades B.V., who has started in supporting the already popular utilisation of the title in the VR arcade scene, accounting for approximately 20% of all VR arcade minutes played in Western venues.
At the same time other successful developers have turned towards a commercial facing opportunity in this market place. Czech-based Beat Games renowned for their phenomenally successful Beat Saber, have invested heavily in defining their game for the commercial entertainment scene – signing an official licensing agreement with key VR arcade providers such as CTRL-V (Canada), Exit Reality, IMAX VR, MK2 (France), PeriscapeVR, SpringboardVR, Private Label and SynthesisVR. Their partnership with SpringboardVR seeing a ‘Beat Saber Global Tournament’ run across 50 of their supported VR arcades; emphasising an eSports element to commercial entertainment deployment of VR. In an unusual development Beat Games also officially sanctioned an amusement-based VR adaptation of their license. Originally called Beat Saber Arcade, this Korean manufactured cabinet employs the Samsung Odyssey Windows MR headset and controllers; this seen as the first of several amusement-style VR experiences crossing the divide.
Line-up of Beat Saber Arcade cabinets, put through their paces at Korean VR Festival
An amusement facing approach to commercial VR entrainment was seen most recently appearing in the heart of London – at the VR ZONE Portal housed inside the Hollywood Bowl at the O2 Arena on the Greenwich Peninsula. The first VR ZONE Portal outside of Japan (we reported at their opening last year), the site is part of a special agreement between the bowling site operator and the UK division of BANDAI NAMCO Amusement. The site becoming the first Western location to install the eagerly awaited Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, based on the popular Nintendo license.
Enter London’s latest VR experience. [via KWP]
BANDAI NAMCO and Hollywood Bowl organised an exclusive media junket to promote the appearance of the game, but before-hand we were lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at the system in operation. The Japanese “Project I Can” system only seeing translation of its game software, with the remainder of the hardware the same as operated in Japan. Players’ using HTC Vive headsets, as well as hand trackers to allow them to throw items at their opponents, players sitting in their own “Fusion Karts” motion simulator – the game able to accommodate four players in this seven-minute single circuit race.
Immersed in the action on Mario Kart GP Arcade VR. (Credit: KWP)
Launched in Japan in 2017, the then titled Mario Kart VR proved an enthusiastic VR title, developed by the rebranded BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Lab Inc., as one of a number of IP based VR experiences that combined the initiative behind the “Project I Can” brand and the VR ZONE concept as a whole. Many have mistakenly thought that this game was developed by Nintendo, but in reality, BANDAI NAMCO and Nintendo have established a long reputation of cross-overs and licensed IP – the amusement division in 2005 launching the popular series with Mario Kart Arcade GP, which saw Pac Man also join the Nintendo racers – and with this background it was logical for the VR ZONE to consider developing a VR interpretation of this popular racer.
Past, Meet Future: Mario Kart Arcade GP cabinetsin the shadow of Mario Kart Arcade GP VR. (Credit: KWP)
Trying the title for myself, it proved a hectic mix of racing and throwing items, and though capturing the spirit of the Mario Kart videogame it did not offer as fulfilling a VR interpretation as one might have wanted. A great taste of what is achievable with a VR environment and a world-class property, but not a real game experience that will achieve any level of repeat visitation. The VR ZONE Portal at the O2 has the VR experiences Hospital Escape Terror and Argyle Shift, each costing £8 (GBP) and £5 respectively on launch, but now the restructured layout sees the replacement of the quirky Argyle Shift for Mario Kart Arcade GP VR and all these two games are now £7.99. Many comments on social media, who made a point of hunting down the launch of this iconic VR game property, balked at this high price.
Another interesting element in the handling of this property different to the Japanese approach was Hollywood Bowl having a 15 years of age restriction in playing Mario Kart VR, while in Japan’s VR ZONE operation, the age cut off is 13, with even the VR ZONE Shinjuku seeing children as young as 7 allowed through the doors. No word was given on why BANDAI NAMCO or Hollywood Bowl had picked this arbitrary cut off to play this VR experience. And as with our last visit to the VR ZONE Portal, the UK adaptation of the brand seems a little stilted compared to that achieved in Japan.
Hollywood Bowl has partnered with the UK BANDAI NAMCO Amusement operation and has seen a second VR ZONE Portal opened in Tunbridge Wells, and a planned Leeds Hollywood Bowl site schedule for a third iteration. Sources at BANDAI NAMCO’s VR Projects team confirmed that these sites would be seeing installations of their own Mario Kart VR units by the end of the year respectively – and the company promised that there would be other European and US deployments of the eagerly awaited VR racer. Speaking to the Evening Standard newspaper, Paul Brown, General Manager for HTC Vive Europe, said: “We are so excited to be working with Bandai Namco and Hollywood Bowl to bring Mario Kart VR to the UK, following its stunning launch in Shinjuku.”
The Mario Kart VR installation. (Credit: KWP)
While completing this feature, news broke that BANDAI NAMCO were about to launch yet another VR experience based on previous amusement success – with a re-creation of 1997 white-water rafting experience VR Rapid River – after extensive testing the Amusement Lab team part of the “Project I Can” VR initiative have created a two-rider motion base with yaw and heave components to offer a thrilling white-water rapids ride, with players using tracked ores to steer their craft through a wild water environment. By the time you read this article the first installations of this VR simulator planned for VR ZONES in Japan will possibly be already in venues.
These games developed by the newly reorganised BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Lab Inc., formed to increase investment in intellectual properties (IP) utilising their XR expertise (XR defined as incorporating VR, AR and MR technology). Most recently a VR experience for the VR ZONE flagship location was based on the legendary movie monster, with GODZILLA VR.
But London was not the only UK location to see a brand-new VR attraction unveiled. A quick journey down to the countries South coast and we arrive in Brighton and make our way to the iconic Brighton Palace Pier – the home of a major seaside amusement operation and the first site to run the ParadropVR attraction. The system represents a partnership between creators FrontGrid and manufacturers Simworx releasing a thrilling simulation of soaring the skies on your very own paraglider.
The ParadropVR attraction takes pride of place on Brighton’s Palace Pier. (Credit: KWP)
The attraction uses an innovative vertical heave motion system to simulate the soaring motion, while the player sits in a specially developed harness system while controlling the direction of flight using two lanyards – while wearing an Oculus Rift CV1 to see the virtual vista. The experience was developed to offer an 8-minute experience, as a separate ticket item on the pier. The machine being operated in partnership with local immersive entertainment operator and representative Immersivity Ltd. The experience was a fun one, though the game experience was slightly limited compared to the conventional VR attraction experience we have come to expect.
Reaching for the skies in ParadropVR (Credit: KWP)
FrontGrid recently announced the opening of a second installation, with Denmark’s Universe Science Park opening their first system this month. FrontGrid and Immersivity are now working on refining the platform and deploying the attraction with a number of other interested operators. Europe has seen a spate of VR attractions opening their doors – moving from Denmark to Germany and it was announced that Europa Park had partnered with VR Coaster, Mack Media and Holodeck VR to create a unique VR attraction. The system married a free-roaming experience with a ride-on coaster, with a seamless transition from one to the other. In what the operators referred to as their patent pending ‘Roam & Ride’ setup – the new attraction Eurosat Coastiality has guests putting on headsets and then walking round a pre-show area, before boarding the actual VR rollercoaster ride (employing a mobile VR headset arrangement).
Europa-Park – The first Roam & Ride system to be deployed
The UK has seen one of the first floatation’s on the London Stock Exchange, of a company dedicated to location-based VR entertainment deployment – the Immotion Group PLC has already started a dedicated roll out of venues employing their Immotion branded offering – the company signing a important agreement with UK shopping center operator intu. Following the opening of a new Immotion VR center in Cardiff, the agreement sees a further three sites at intu Derby, Newcastle and Uxbridge. Immotion not just focused on opening venues, but also driving development, seeing AAA content creation for their sites as essential, has recently announced the launch of their wholly developed space-themed VR ride experience Delta Zero.
The company has also worked to ensure a lead in the deployment of the latest VR experiences and announced the extension of their exclusive distribution agreement with leading Chinese manufacturer LEKE VR Technology. A company that has established major advancements in the VR arcade hardware scene, and in 2016 formed a strategic partnership with HTC Corporation towards utilising the latest technology married to VR entertainment for commercial application (at that time for the Viveport Arcades support of the LEKE VR’s VRLe platform). Now with a US sales operation Immotion is seen to be one of the fastest developing companies championing this sector.
(Credit: KWP)
The concluding part of this coverage will follow next week.
The UK-based immersive virtual reality (VR) out of home entertainment company Immotion Group have announced that it is rolling out ImmotionVR brand into Spain, which represents a new market for the company. Having signed an exclusive franchise distribution partnership with a major local leisure operator, Climbing Planet, which will open and operate multiple ImmontionVR branded experiences centers and identify additional supply opportunities, across Spain.
The partnership will see Climbing Planet will be purchasing VR experience simulators from Immotion Group, who will receive an ongoing revenue share from each of the sites and thereby increasing the number of installed seats and positively impacting the cost of entering the consumer market. The first planned centre will open in a shopping centre in the Northern Spanish city of Logrono in November of this year, followed by a second centre at a similar space in Barcelona in December 2018.
“With a shared vision and a raft of experience that complements Immotion Group’s, we see Climbing Planet as an ideal partner to introduce our VR experience centres into Spain.” Says Martin Higginson, CEO of Immotion Group: “This deal will dramatically lower the cost of entering this exciting consumer market and we expect to benefit from the local knowledge that Climbing Planet benefits from, having rolled out VR experiences previously. The partnership highlights the exciting opportunities the Group continues to explore both within and outside the UK to allow more consumers to experience virtual reality, a lot of whom is for the first time.”
Growth within Spain will then be overseen by Climbing Planet who will use their strong knowledge of the regional market to identify additional sites in shopping centres and malls with high football to set up as new locations. Each of these VR centres will feature a number of Immotion Group’s VR experience simulators, ranging from VR motorcycles and cars, to VR cinema pods. There will also be the option to offer dedicated birthday parties thanks to separate rooms and even coffee areas.
“We are excited to be working with Immotion Group and to be bringing its experiences to Spanish consumers.” Says Carles Comas Chief Executive Officer of Climbing Planet S.L: “ImmotionVR provides us with a unique opportunity to launch the ultimate VR destination, and we expect it to be one of our main concepts in the next two years. Immotion Group has created an inspiring offering which fits with our passion to deliver next-generation experiences that provide customers with a taste of the future.”
As Immotion Group and Climbing Planet now progress with their expansion into the Spanish market, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on this in the future.
While there continues to be something of a debate about the proliferation of virtual reality (VR) arcades and VR’s role as a part of digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) locations it can’t be denied that many names involved within DOE are continuing to expand their ventures. It’s something that’s touched on regularly in The Virtual Arena, but even beyond this in recent months we’ve seen new locations announced from the likes of The VOID, VRIGHT, a new spin-off studio from Vertigo Games specifically for DOE VR titles and much more.
However, Immotion Group aren’t focusing solely on the UK seeking to grow its business in America as well as in Asia. To that end they have just announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Leke VR. The Beijing based firm have agreed an extension to the existing UK contract which sees the pair tied up through to December 31st next year. On top of this is a new exclusive distribution agreement for the USA, again contracted until the end of 2019. Immotion Group now will be selling Leke VR’s motion platform hardware in combination with their own experiences across both territories exclusively in addition to other markets while in return Leke VR will be bringing Immotion Group’s library of experiences to its already installed platforms across thirty countries.
“The Group will monetise its content on a ‘per play’ basis”.It explains in a statement. “The current usage on the Leke installed base is approximately 1 million ‘plays’ per month and the Directors expect this to grow strongly. The parties will now begin a full assessment of the relevant operational matters, with a view to such distribution beginning towards the end of 2018.”
“We are extremely pleased to have extended our exclusive relationship, and to be working much closer with Leke VR. We share the same vision with extremely complementary skills.” Adds CEO of Immotion Group, Martin Higginson. “Leke VR are, in our view, the market leaders in affordable VR motion platforms, whilst we believe Immotion is leading the way in immersive VR experiences. This unique combination, now available globally, will further propel both Immotion and Leke VR in their quest to lead the ‘out of home’ VR market.”
Higginson’s opposite number at Leke VR, Evan He, in turn said: “We are pleased to extend our exclusive distribution and manufacturing agreement with Immotion for both the UK, and now the USA, and to be working with them on the distribution of their VR experiences. The quality of experiences produced by the Immotion team is way above anything we have seen to date. We are convinced our customers will love them. The combination of the Immotion Group’s VR content and our VR motion platforms will allow Leke to deliver an offering which is far superior to other affordable VR experiences available to consumers globally.”
VRFocus will bring you more information about the developments in the DOE arena very soon.
If you happen to live in the UK and have yet to try virtual reality (VR) in either its home or location-based form then Immotion Group is going to make that much easier to do so. Last month the company opened its third ImmotionVR Centre at Xscape Yorkshire, Castleford, and today announced the fourth at an intu shopping centre in St Davids, Cardiff.
Immotion Group PLC has been working in partnership with intu, which owns and manages many of the UK’s shopping centres, to continue the rolling out its ImmotionVR brand. Customers heading to the ImmotionVR centres will find a broad range of experiences including Delta Zero which was launched in August. Further experiences are due to launch later this year, including seasonal themed experiences for both Halloween and Christmas.
“We are incredibly excited to be working with intu to expand our portfolio of ImmotionVR outlets across its impressive portfolio of some of the UK’s most popular shopping locations,” said Martin Higginson, CEO of Immotion Group, in a statement. “Riding on the success of our existing VR centres, this roll out will positively impact our revenues. We look forward to bringing more high quality VR experience centres to more consumers across the UK, many of whom are trying VR for the first time, in the coming months.”
Most of the ImmotionVR outlets will be centre aisle attractions although for intu St David’s this location has opened as a shop, allowing it to feature VR cinema pods and guns, and the latest Immotion racing car simulators.
“Virtual reality has such exciting potential within our portfolio of the some of the UK’s most popular shopping destinations where it could one day become as commonplace as stopping for a coffee with friends. intu centres are focused on creating these kinds of compelling experiences for our customers to enjoy and we’re excited to provide yet another new brand with a fantastic opportunity to flourish across the UK,” adds Roger Binks, Customer Experience Director at intu.
As for existing and new sites, the Group’s outlet in the Manchester Arndale will be relocated to a more prominent site within the premises. A further three ImmotionVR Centres will then open at intu Derby, intu Eldon Square, Newcastle and intu Uxbridge. For further expansion updates, keep reading VRFocus.
While the industry is currently going through something of a quiet patch when it comes to virtual reality (VR) related news, that certainly doesn’t mean that nothing at all is happening. In fact, as we’ve seen recently a number of names within the immersive technology industry are taking the time to refocus on their goals going forward, secure additional funding, and in some cases expand
Examples of this would be like digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) specialists The VOID who are continuing their push to grow the business, revealing more and more venues particularly in North America. Just yesterday VRFocus brought you news of Munich-based augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) training firm Re’flekt, which has just secured over $4 million (USD) in investment and at the same time Pokemon GO developer Niantic Labs revealed the latest of several moves and acquisitions by purchasing VR studio Seismic Games, which recently launched Blade Runner: Revelations for Google Daydream.
Closer to home – for VRFocus, anyway – another company has revealed a new role as it looks to make inroads into North America. Immotion Group, another DOE company, recently floated on the London Stock Exchange’s junior market, AIM, generating £5.75 million (GBP) to add to the £500K it received in April and the £1.3 million back in December 2017. The move follows a number of new partners and venues being revealed this year, including Merlin Entertainments’ Lego Discovery Center in Boston which VRFocus reported on back in May and a venue in Birmingham, UK. Further locations are, according to Immotion Group, “under agreement”.
Immotion Group has appointed a North American Sales Director “to lead the company’s expansion drive in the region”, choosing Kyle Villella, who has a background in areas the company is likely to target, specifically outdoor activity entertainment centres and theme parks.
“We’re really happy to have Kyle lead the charge in the North American market.” said Immotion’s Group Commercial Director Rod Findley, “It’s important to have someone with deep experience across verticals as we expand our location-based VR offering across a wide range of venues in the US and Canada.”
“The Immotion Group has all the ingredients to be the leader in the out-of-home VR entertainment industry for the world.” Villella himself added. “The ongoing efforts have yielded amazing results and I’m proud and excited to help continue the rollout for North America.”
VRFocus will bring you more details on developments at Immotion Group as we get them.
Location-based virtual reality (VR) experiences are beginning to become more commonplace at theme parks all over the world. Visitor attraction company Merlin Entertainments have previously explored the technology at its UK parks Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, and are now teaming with immersive technology company Immotion to bring a VR attraction to the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Boston.
Merlin entertainments have struck a deal with Immotion to bring a themed VR experience to the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre which will exist alongside the existing immersive attractions at the park, such as the 4D cinema.
The new VR experience will consist of an immersive VR racing simulation called The Great LEGO Race VR Experience, which will allow visitors to sit inside Immotion pods which combine sight, sound and motion for a truly immersive experience.
Martin Higginson, Executive chairman of Immotion said: “Discovery Center in Boston is part of a massively popular worldwide brand, and we are excited about this specially created VR experience we have delivered for them. “It demonstrates the kind of high-quality bespoke VR experiences we can develop on behalf of our partners.
Immotion was founded by Martin Higginson and David Marks and has been involved with a number of projects for immersive VR centres, such as the VR Star centres like the one which recently opened in Bristol, UK and the Jurassic World Exhibition which has been available the The Yorkshire Museum, which famed naturalist and presenter Sir David Attenborough described as ‘tremendous’.
Higginson also commented: “We are proud of the immersive technology behind the pod and we believe it will boost the great family fun already on offer. This is arguably Immotion’s highest-profile VR experience so far and shows that out-of-home VR is increasingly becoming a major part of the worldwide attractions and experiences industry.”
For further news on new and upcoming location-based VR projects, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Shoppers in Swindon will soon be able to experience virtual reality (VR) while taking a break from their shopping with the arrival of brand new VR pods coming to the Brunel Shopping Centre.
The new VR Star Centre will provide users with the latest in cutting edge technology to become immersed in some groundbreaking experiences without the need for the equipment at home. The Swindon Brunel Shopping Centre is one of five new locations to get the pods in the coming weeks.
Arek Antoniak, Operations Manager of VR Star, said: “VR Star in Bristol has been hugely successful and these five new centres will offer even more customers across the UK the chance to enjoy the ultimate VR experience. Our VR Cinema Pods engage all the senses to deliver something that is genuinely immersive and thrilling. We can’t wait for people to get the chance to enjoy them.”
By putting on the VR head-mounted display (HMD) users will become immersed in the simulated 3D environments while positioned on special machinery. This allows for them to interact with these environments by rotating their head and shifting their body weight. These systems will help to create a more realistic experience and deal with any possible motion sickness which might occur as a result of use.
The Swindon Brunel Shopping Centre VR Start Centre will allow customers a chance to fly dragons, ride rollercoasters, explore haunted hospitals and even run alongside dinosaurs. Customers will need to take part in a five minute check-in and introduction before they choose a machine and experience up to on hour inside the virtual worlds. All of this is possible thanks to technology from companies such as Vive, Samsung, and NVIDIA.
To date, the VR Star Centre in Bristol has received exclusively five-star ratings on Trip Advisor, with people having responded to the TRON-esque bikes and race car experiences with praise. The aim is to have the same success in the new locations, including that one in Swindon Brunel Shopping Centre when it opens on 11th May, 2018.
For more stories like this in the future and for more on immersive media, keep reading VRFocus.
Following on from the developments that we covered at the first Microsoft LBE VR Summit (read part 
Closer to home – for 
“We’re really happy to have Kyle lead the charge in the North American market.” said Immotion’s Group Commercial Director Rod Findley, “It’s important to have someone with deep experience across verticals as we expand our location-based VR offering across a wide range of venues in the US and Canada.”
