Meow Wolf – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

April 27, 2022

The Virtual Arena: Building the Immersive Playground

The application of XR into the attraction and amusement landscape is covered by industry specialist Kevin Williams, in his latest Virtual Arena column – with an exclusive look at one of the Western markets’ most ambitious entertainment venues comprising all the latest concepts; AREA15.

The investment in brand new entertainment facilities had begun long before the global lockdown, with several ambitious projects. With reopening, the market has exploded as social entertainment has proven a strong draw for an audience looking for social engagement, places to have fun and hospitality together, with XR technology cementing this experience.

One of those projects started before COVID hit was AREA15 – described as an immersive playground, a collision of entertainment with artainment and bazar theming. To be more accurate, AREA15 is part of an entertainment hub within a warehouse district off-strip in Las Vegas, comprising both the main entertainment site and a few complimentary entertainment spaces.

This entertainment hub is dominated by the striking design of the AREA15 building, purpose-built to house the entertainment space. Surrounding this are several hospitality and entertainment units collected to compliment the area. These include a permanent installation of the Army of the Dead: Viva Vengeance VR experience, (that we covered when it visited London). Next to this will be the second Illuminarium experience. In the final stages of completion, the space is dedicated to immersive projection entertainment, and is another of the illustrations that the “hub”, as well as the main facility, are fully embracing an XR entertainment ethos.

Illuminarium exterior — Illuminarium in the final stages of completion. Image credit: Illuminarium

Surrounded by a sculpture park, and hospitality, the guest crosses the threshold and enters the vast AREA15 structure through an unassuming door. But once inside the facility and all the senses are bombarded with light, sound, and smell. Greeted by a giant projection-mapped skull, this immersive playground is comprised of key offerings including that of dedicated gallery and artainment. Along with the inclusion of immersive entertainment, strong hospitality, and late-night vibe. The artainment is underpinned by the ‘MEGA MART’ installation, developed by AREA15 partner Meow Wolf.

AREA15 interior — Into the eclectic world of entertainment. Image credit: KWP

The cross between an art installation, funhouse, and attraction, sees ‘MEGA MART’ take up nearly half of the facility, and offers a ticketed attraction – guests wandering around a surreal recreation of a supermarket, exploring the unique isles, and discovering secrets and the venues’ hidden story. The space reflects a throwback to the art commune roots of developer Meow Wolf but also includes some immersive technology effects within the funhouse styling. The attraction has proven one of the major draws of the venue.

AREA15 MegaMart — Where Artainment meets funhouse. Image credit: KWP

But regarding the technology on show at AREA15, we see one of the largest gatherings of XR immersive entertainment platforms under one roof. Crossing the whole gambit of deployments. First off with VR – seeing the first installation of the OZ Experience, developed by Backlight Studios, the free-roaming VR attraction incorporates many of the immersive elements that pull groups of players into the game narrative. VR is also seen at the site with Virtualis VR, running the TrueVRsystems immersive experience. While the venue also has two installations of the ‘Birdly’ VR flying simulator in operation. Artainment is even served this way, with a popup edutainment installation of the Meta Quest 2 powered ‘Van Gogh VR’ (the VR element from the gallery previous reported on).

Moving from VR to AR, and AREA15 has both entertainment and artainment borrowing heavily on this application. The ‘Particle Quest’ AR experience at the venue is a unique scavenger hunt, using augmented reality viewing devices that the guests rent. Used to search the whole of the facility, hunting clues to the secrets behind the site. In the ‘Museum Fiasco’, an immersive experience is created using lighting and sound effects. As well as the Wink World: Portal into the Infinite – an exhibit crossing between a funhouse with mirror rooms developed by co-founder of the Blue Man Group. While, immersive projection systems are utilized within Five Iron Golf, a sports simulator and bar venue, as well as with the Illuminarium experience outside.

AREA15 AR viewers — Collecting the unique AR viewers. Image credit: KWP

Entertainment is at the heart of AREA15, as well as a lively hospitality component, and the ‘Emporium’ is a retro arcade with a strong cocktail and bar element. In even creating an amusement and hospitality site, the venue strives to paint the space with light and sound. The site even has its own duelling zipline. While during the day the venue does not need a price of admission, to address over-crowding, the operators have instigated an “Entry Pass” system, purchased by guests after 10 pm, as well as at weekends. While at the same time the venue is proving a strong private hire opportunity, for parties and events.

AREA15 zipline — Guests try out the thrills of the zipline. Image credit: KWP

Never boring, the AREA15 experience proved an interesting gaze on the future of the social entertainment landscape. The need to mix the latest immersive technology seamlessly into the mix of entertainment (conventional as well as unique), but still leave space for wonder and relaxation with the injection of artainment / edutainment. The developers of AREA15 recently revealed their plans to open a second version of their entertainment district in Orlando, Florida, in 2023.

We look forward to reporting on the next entertainment venues to deploy XR technology so lavishly.

October 4, 2019

A Mixed Reality Hot Air Balloon Experience Comes To Meow Wolf

Have you ever wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride but been too scared to try? Well, a new mixed reality experience in Santa Fe might be right up your alley.

Located at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, the mixed reality experiences uses a physical hot air balloon basket and chassis alongside a virtual reality experience to let you fly high just like you’re on a real hot air balloon journey. The physical basket and the controllable, physical gas lever mean that visitors can feel properly immersed in the experience. You can lean against the basket, look down at the ground and feel like you have physical control over the balloon.

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the hot air balloon flies over a “mountainous canyon setting with a large dinosaur skeleton, a small ghost town, birds flying, wind turbines and a few other balloons.”

The experience is on lease at Meow Wolf for six months from Janimation VR, who have had a hand in creating a variety of VR and non-VR games over the years.

This hot air balloon at Meow Wolf is not the first to incorporate real life and physical props into a VR experience. The Void is known for its use of physical props that are recreated in a virtual reality experience, as seen last year in Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. The Void have also just announced Avengers: Damage Control, where we expect to see a similar integration of physical objects and environments that match the virtual world.

The post A Mixed Reality Hot Air Balloon Experience Comes To Meow Wolf appeared first on UploadVR.

May 16, 2019

Nomadic Expands LBE VR Offering Into Las Vegas’ AREA15 Complex

Location-based entertainment (LBE) specialist Nomadic has announced the next location for its unique brand of virtual reality (VR) retail experiences, heading to Las Vegas to take up residency in a new experiential retail and entertainment complex called AREA15.

The complex plans to offer live events, immersive activations, art installations and much more, with Nomadic occupying 6,000 total square feet of the 200,000 square foot complex, located near AREA15’s anchor tenant, the art collaborative Meow Wolf .

Just like its original location in Orlando, Florida, Nomadic will offer guests in Las Vegas cutting-edge VR experiences which they can physically-engage with. It’ll incorporate physical props, set design and environmental effects for its story-driven VR content, appropriate for participants age 10 and older. The company hasn’t said whether its latest title Arizona Sunshine: Rampage – which puts players inside a zombie-infested refinery, at night (definitely not one for 10 years olds) – will be coming to the new location.

“Nomadic’s vision of being the leader for next generation, out-of-home, fully immersive VR entertainment fits perfectly with the curated collection of unique entertainment and retail businesses, artists and best-in-class live events that will find a home at AREA15,” says Winston Fisher, chief executive officer, AREA15 in a statement.

Nomadic

“Nomadic is creating a new medium of immersive entertainment. Bringing this to market with a partner such as AREA15, which is committed to achieving that same high level of innovation and entertainment as us, is a perfect match for us,” said Doug Griffin, founder, Nomadic. “To be paired with other groundbreaking activations is exactly why we chose Las Vegas as our next location and we know locals and visitors alike will enjoy getting lost in these incredible adventures.”

AREA15 isn’t finished at the moment. The complex is scheduled to open its doors in December, as such, additional details regarding specific experiences planned for AREA15 are due to be announced later this year.

As for Nomadic, the company has a third location in the works for San Rafael, California, with launch dates still to be announced. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Nomadic and LBE VR venues in general, reporting back with the latest updates.

January 21, 2018

Immersive Entertainment Centre Area15 Opening in Las Vegas Mid-2019

Retail chains where you try virtual reality (VR) are becoming more and more common, so it seems only natural that something similar would open in the most glamorous city in the world, Las Vegas. We’ve seen them all across the United States, but this one, Area15, feels a bit different.

Las Vegas

Chain Store Age reports that Area15 is described as a “wholly re-imaged world” which will include immersive experiences, themed events, art installations, restaurants, bars and, of course, nightlife. Area15 is aimed at clientèle that include gamers and sci-fi enthusiasts, so we think their focus on immersive experiences just might include VR, augmented reality (AR) or perhaps even some mixed reality (MR).

Area15 is a joint venture between Fisher Brothers, a real estate development firm, and Beneville Studios, a creative agency. Both companies are based in New York, and plan for their new project to have 126,000 square foot of space for a carefully selected variety of experimental and retail businesses. There will also be a 40,000 square foot space outside which they say is well suited for live music, festivals, events and more, with retail and restaurant businesses set up adjacent, of course.

“Area15 is a radical re-imagining of retail,” said Winston Fisher, a principal of Fisher Brothers. “It will be a 21st century immersive bazaar and an entirely new concept in retail and entertainment.”

Area15 should have a little something for everything, including an ecological forest of an original bamboo structure from Bali in its “Spine” bazaar.

Multi-media company Meow Wolf has been signed as the anchor tenant, and will work with Las Vegas artists and talent to create experiences for Area15. One of Meow Wolf’s biggest investors is none other than George R.R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame.

“Area15 understands the current cultural shift into new dimensions of experience, whether that’s in telling a story, entertainment, dining or retail,” said Vince Kadlubek, CEO of Meow Wolf. “Meow Wolf has envisioned an entirely new way of telling a story — more immersive, more interactive, more exploratory than anything before — and we are looking forward to producing an otherworldly experience for the vibrant local population of Las Vegas, as well as the year-round visitors from around the globe.”

For more news on Area15 as it emerges, keep reading VRFocus.

January 15, 2017

Art Collective Supported By George R.R. Martin Gets Into VR

Art is powerful. With so many ways to express the human imagination through creative skill, it is encouraging to see VR become an impactful canvas for creators. Meow Wolf is an art collective and production company with the goal to exhibit art that appeals to all types of people of all ages and interests. They also have an incredibly popular benefactor known for shaping worlds (and destroying them): George R.R. Martin.

Martin created the book series “The Song of Ice and Fire” upon which the “Game of Thrones” television show is based. He purchased, leased out for 10 years, and added $2.5 million in renovations for the space that Meow Wolf occupies in New Mexico, as detailed on NPR. That space, which is their first physical location, is a 20,000 square foot home for artistic expression across many disciplines called the House of Eternal Return, and their next major upgrade is creating an R&D team that will open the door for VR works.

In the trailer teasing Meow Wolf’s new VR initiative, a few thoughts were shared on why they do what they do and how virtual reality will be integrated into their future projects.

“One thing we noticed about VR is that it faces a very similar problem that we find in the fine art industry,” a young man says. He goes on to express artists have previously made art for just a few people and that Meow Wolf wants to embrace people beyond the economically fortunate that art is usually reserved for.

“We’d like for VR, and our motive implementing it, to be as inclusive as possible,” a young woman declares in the video. “So, we’re in the process of developing a workflow that allows for everyone regardless of their technical aptitudes to be able to use the technology.”

This inclusive ideal is something that is permeating throughout the VR ecosystem, with inexpensive avenues available for people to create VR art and VR stories. Not only is VR opening doors for creating art, many are taking advantage of the immersive exploration of those creations, like Kevin Mack’s Blortasia and the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier exhibit that includes VR and AR installations.

For their VR initiative, Meow Wolf wants to find PC-based solutions with haptic feedback while also embracing mobile-based content and filling in space in their physical location.

Tagged with: art, Exhibit, Exhibition, George R.R. Martin, Meow Wolf, show