The Walt Disney Company has announced participants in its 2017 incubator Disney Accelerator, a program intended for early and venture-backed tech startups working in media and entertainment. Among the 11 picked for the company’s 2017 Accelerator is location-based VR arcade The Void and Unreal Engine creator Epic Games.
Starting in 2014, Disney’s Accelerator backs around 10 companies each year, offering financial investment and a three-month mentorship with access to the co-working space at Disney’s creative campus in LA. Companies to come out of Disney’s Accelerator include the toy company Sphero, 360 streaming platform Littlestar, 360 video production studio Jaunt and modular electronics producer littleBits.
The Void is a location-based VR company that delivers a warehouse-scale experience unlike any other currently. Employing interactive sets, real-time effects, and backpack-mounted, tether-less VR headsets allowed for what Road to VR‘s Chris Madsen said ultimately helped him ‘achieve and maintain long moments of presence’ when he visited the Void in 2015.
…the sense of Presence built as I reached out to touch a stack of crates in front of me, the image becoming real as my hands were greeted with a real wooden surface. Intrigued by the merging of worlds, I dragged my hands across the surface, leaning my weight into it, and pulled myself up to peek over the ledge at the space beyond. The prop felt to be an exact match to what I was seeing through the lenses of the VR headset.
In a visit last year to The Void’s Ghostbusters: Dimension experience at Madame Tussaud’s in New York, Road to VR writer said the weight of the VR equipment didn’t distract him at all from his virtual surroundings—an old hotel room populated by a host of relatively benign pink ghosts.
The Void now operates four VR centers globally; at Madame Tussauds in New York, The Rec Room in Toronto, The Beach in Dubai, and their headquarters outside of Salt Lake City.
“As a veteran of the entertainment industry, I can say that the integrity, innovation, and magic of The Walt Disney Company is unparalleled. I’ve had the pleasure of working for Lucasfilm and ILM in the past, and my time there has greatly influenced my career. As we look back at all that we’ve accomplished in such a short time at THE VOID, and towards the future and the incredible potential to bring a new form of location-based entertainment to audiences across the globe, we know that the power of The Walt Disney Company will help us get there,” said The Void’s CEO Cliff Plumer.
While not strictly ‘VR news’, Epic Games’ Unreal Engine is one of the pillars of VR-capable game engines, and has been most recently an integral part in bringing ILMxLab’s Star Wars demo to life via Unreal Engine VR Editor. Its not certain exactly what Disney’s Accelerator will accomplish for Epic Games at this time however.
Epic Games Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said, “Over the past few years, we’ve had great collaborations with The Walt Disney Company, contributing Unreal Engine technology to everything from theme park rides to Star Wars movies, and we look forward to participating in the Disney Accelerator.”
The post Disney Invests in VR Arcade The VOID, Epic Games in 2017 Accelerator appeared first on Road to VR.
The application of arena-scale VR has been charted beyond the cinema landscape, with already 
The commercial entertainment industry has proven an uncomfortable enigma to many that had previously invested in a promised consumer approach to VR. To educate and promote, the Digital Out-of-Home Entertainment (DOE) sector has invested in a unique conference in September, partly supported by my consultancy (KWP) and a major exhibition organizer. Based in Las Vegas, the 
Along with the first New York facility, a second version of the site was opened in Dubai – a third site was also opened in their company’s home state of Utah, and along with running the Ghostbusters experience is being used to present their latest backpack and head-mounted display (HMD) platform with further games planned. The new executive structure within The VOID has revealed a new roll out plan for their location-based aspirations. Though still no word of the schedule on the first Chinese openings.
We have seen some retail venues incorporate directly an entertainment approach using VR technology, Samsung, no stranger to VR technology, are planning to embrace this approach, with 
Across the water, and North America has seen investment in this approach with the California seeing the opening of the first 
The concept of VR amusement ad attractions, and the whole aspect of out-of-home entertainment has gained momentum in the thinking of once consumer facing corporations. This was best illustrated at the recent VR World Congress in Bristol – along with the consumer game developments, and investment into new technology, the approach of DOE business was championed by event sponsor AMD, who invited on stage companies like MK2 VR from France, operator of a Europe’s largest permanent VR virtual reality facility in Paris; and Chinese based SoReal venue, developed by SLE who have created a unique VR Park operation with seated motion VR simulators and VR backpack game experiences.
VR Gaming Enters the Fray
The recent VR / AR Gambling convention in Prague, marked the first dedicated conference run by specialist from the online and land-based casino industry, covering the impacts issues and opportunities for this technology in their business. And a second major exhibition in the United States (GiGse) late this month will see further discussion of this business pivot for the gaming industry, led by a presentation by KWP, concerning the VR promotional, operational and content development in the gambling and skill gaming sector.
