Five Marvel Studios VR Experiences We Want From The Void

Five Marvel Studios VR Experiences We Want From The Void

Location-based VR experience maker The Void shared some exciting news last week. Not only is it working on a Wreck it Ralph VR experience to release later this year, but it’s also promised something new in collaboration with Marvel Studios in 2019.

Consider us interested.

Next year is a big one for Marvel Studios, as it debuts Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel and rounds out over 10 years of movie making with the final installment in the Avengers saga, so there’s plenty of possibilities for a great VR experience. We put our heads together and came up with a few possible ideas.

Captain Marvel Tie-In

The first of the two most obvious choices is a tie-in with the first Marvel film to arrive next year, Captain Marvel. The MCU’s first female-led solo film is already highly anticipated and a major tie-in to introduce us to its cosmic cast of characters might be just what the doctor ordered. We already know that Captain Marvel will be part of an elite space force at the start of the movie; perhaps players could be a part of her squad?

This would give us the chance to experience some of the MCU’s most fantastic sights as well as meet virtual renditions of characters like Guardians of the Galaxy baddie Ronin. Plus the army of shape-shifting Skrulls that are set to appear as antagonists in the film make for perfect minions to do virtual combat with.

Avengers 4 Tie-In

Of course, if this VR experience is tying-into a newly-released Marvel film then the smart money is on it linking up with Avengers 4. As if the hype surrounding Infinity War wasn’t already high enough, its ending has left fans begging for clues as to what the untitled fourth Avengers film will entail. How cool would it be to get a glimpse of the film, which brings together practically every hero in the MCU to date, in VR for the first time?

Not to mention the raw intimidation that would come from staring down a baddie like Josh Brolin’s Thanos, who has proved to be pretty unstoppable thus far. If The Void gave players the chance to pick from any one of the MCU’s heroes to control in a dramatic, high-production showdown with Thanos, this could be one of VR’s most exciting experiences thus far.

Ant-Man & The Wasp Heist

Ant-Man’s second outing might have already come and gone but I have to admit his size-altering powers make both him and new partner-in-sort-of-crime Wasp an ideal fit for a memorable VR experience. I could easily see the latest film’s mad car chase, in people become giants and Pez containers knock over baddies, making for the perfect VR piece.

Perhaps given that Scott and Hope’s powers are based on their suits and not supernatural, we could all feasibly strap into our own shrinking devices and explore the MCU from an entirely new angle. A S.H.I.E.L.D. stealth mission in which you sneak around an iconic Marvel location would be sure to get people in through the door.

Dr. Strange’s Magical Adventure

Dr. Strange’s recent VR debut in Marvel: Powers United VR was admittedly a little underwhelming, but we still maintain that he’s one of the heroes best suited to a VR experience. Strange’s ability to teleport via sling ring and summon all kinds of fantastical attacks to make him an ideal candidate for a VR experience.

Perhaps we could be students at the monastery that Strange himself once visited, protecting the Sanctums all over the world from magical invasions.

Marvel Studios Legacy Tour

This is sort of like another Avengers 4 tie-in but bear with us. It’s thought that there might be a bit of time traveling involved in Marvel Studios’ next sequel, with our heroes revisiting some of their past movies. This is the perfect excuse for a VR experience that leads us on a sort of ‘Best of’ of the MCU.

Imagine clambering through the rubble in the battle of New York as Iron Man swoops overhead, or dodging Ultron robots in Sokovia whilst Hulk smashes. Or how about piloting a ship alongside the Guardians in the defense of Xandar? Joining Captain America’s Howling Commandoes in the second World War? There’s a massive number of scenes we could jump to make the best out of this experience.

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The VOID And ILMxLAB Unveil New Hyper-Reality Productions Including Ralph Breaks VR

The VOID, a global leader in multi-sensory location-based experiences and ILMxLAB, Lucasfilm’s award-winning immersive entertainment division have revealed a new hyper-reality production set to be released through 2019. The two companies are collaborating on five original Disney IP hyper-reality experiences with the first two to be created in collaboration with Walt Disney Animation Studios and Marvel Studios.

Star Wars Secret of the Empire

The news comes following the overwhelming success of Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire which showed the companies that their was a high demand for world class hyper-reality experiences that made use of the latest in computer graphics and virtual reality (VR). Because of this, ILMxLAB has been named as the exclusive producer for the Marvel Studios and Walk Disney Animation Studios experiences with three more Disney titles to follow.

“Partnering with the creative teams at ILMxLAB & The VOID on this new type of immersive storytelling adventure is an exciting opportunity. For the first time, we will give fans the chance to walk into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and interact with some of their favorite characters,” said Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios.

One of these experiences includes the hyper-reality experience Ralph Breaks VR which is set to release later this Fall. This will be followed by an untitled Marvel experience which will release in 2019. The other three releases will come following these but details on these have yet to be released. Information such as release dates, locations and ticket availability will also be revealed and made available in the coming months.

Ralph Breaks VR

“Working with our friends at ILMxLAB to help bring Star Wars fans directly into that galaxy far, far away in such a strong creative process, it became apparent we needed to continue on this path as The VOID establishes itself as a leader in location-based entertainment,” said Craig Watson, Chairman & CEO of The VOID. “This is just the beginning of our collaboration with ILMxLAB, Marvel Studios, and Walt Disney Animation Studios as together we broaden the possibilities for immersive storytelling experiences to reach places previously only available in the imagination.”

VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest information on Ralph Breaks VR and the future experiences from ILMxLAB and The Void so make sure to stay tuned to stay up to date.

The Void: Fünf neue VR-Erfahrungen zu Disney- und Marvel-Lizenzen angekündigt

Die VR-Arcades von The Void erhalten insgesamt fünf neue VR-Erfahrungen, die in Zusammenarbeit mit Disney entwickelt werden. Dazu zählt eine Experience zum Animationsfilm Wreck-it Ralph 2 (deutscher Titel: Ralph reichts 2) sowie eine bisher unbekannte Marvel-Erfahrung.

The Void – Fünf neue VR-Erfahrungen basierend auf Lizenzen von Disney

Das VR-Arcade-Unternehmen The Void expandiert kontinuierlich weiter und kann in Kürze mehr als 17 Arcades weltweit vorweisen mit Standorten in den USA, London und Dubai. Nun kündigten die Verantwortlichen insgesamt fünf neue VR-Erfahrungen an, welche auf den Lizenzen von Disney basieren. Bereits bekannt gemacht wurde die Experience Ralph Breaks VR, die zum zeitnah erscheinenden Film Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet im Herbst 2018 erscheinen soll.

Innerhalb der virtuellen Erfahrung tauchen die Besucher/innen in die immersive Welt des Internets sowie verschiedene Online-Spiele ein. Dabei treffen sie auf die beiden Protagonist/innen Ralph und Vanellope. An der Entwicklung der Arcade-Erfahrung sind The Void, The Walt Disney Company und ILMxLAB beteiligt. Aus dieser Kooperation ging ebenso die bereits zugängliche VR-Erfahrung Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire hervor.

Zusätzlich wurde eine VR-Experience im Marvel-Universum angekündigt, welche 2019 in die Arcades einziehen soll. Worum es sich dabei genau handelt, ist bisher unbekannt. Derzeitige Spekulationen handeln von einem möglichen Szenario innerhalb des Avengers-Franchises mit Captain Marvel und Thanos. Die restlichen Ankündigungen zu den drei weiteren VR-Erlebnissen steht noch aus.

The Void bietet zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt bereits VR-Erfahrungen zu Ghostbusters, Star Wars und Nicodemus an.

(Quellen: Upload VR | Disney | Video: The VOID YouTube)

Der Beitrag The Void: Fünf neue VR-Erfahrungen zu Disney- und Marvel-Lizenzen angekündigt zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

The VOID Will Add New Disney And Marvel Experiences

The VOID Will Add New Disney And Marvel Experiences

Disney and The VOID are expanding their partnership to bring a Wreck-It Ralph experience to locations this fall as well as an unnamed Marvel experience in 2019.

Disney invested in the VR startup last year and, by the end of 2017, Disney’s ILMxLab and The VOID had launched Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire. For more than $30 per ticket, up to four friends or family members can transform into rebels infiltrating a base in the Star Wars universe.  The company previously launched a Ghostbusters experience and is widely launching its haunting Nicodemus horror experience in time for Halloween.

The new Disney experiences were announced via a story in Fast Company and it is unknown which 2019 Marvel movie will be brought to premium out-of-home VR. Possibilities include Avengers, Captain Marvel and the next Spider-Man film. Back in 2016 we noted the Russo brothers, who are heading up Thanos’ assault on the Marvel cinematic universe across 2018 and 2019 Avengers films, said they were excited about VR and “we have a lot of ideas that we’re circling for Infinity War right along those lines. Because the technology has really turned us on and we’ve been looking for opportunities to start using it more extensively.”

The VOID has locations at some incredibly high traffic (and high rent) spots like next to Disney parks or The Venetian in Las Vegas. With The VOID starting to run different kinds of broadly appealing experiences at the same location there are new reasons for people to spend more money when visiting, so the addition of these new Marvel and Disney experiences could have a huge effect on the ability of The VOID to bring in dollars and keep expanding.

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The VOID is Developing 5 New Disney & Marvel VR Experiences, ‘Ralph Breaks VR’ Coming in Fall

The VOID, an out-of-home VR destination that melds wireless VR with real warehouse-scale environments, has partnered with Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB to bring five new Disney and Marvel experiences to their growing number of VR facilities.

According to a Fast Company report, the first experience will be based on the upcoming Disney sequel to Wreck-it Ralph (2012), dubbed Ralph Breaks The Internet. The experience is said to debut sometime in fall 2018, and is ostensibly named ‘Ralph Breaks VR’.

The VOID’s second experience is still somewhat cryptic at this point, as it’s based on what Fast Company reports to be “an undisclosed Marvel movie that will premiere sometime in 2019.”

Marvel’s upcoming glut of films slated for 2019 include Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and a still untitled Avengers film. Disney is also releasing Frozen 2 this November. The VOID currently features Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, Ghostbusters Dimensions, and a horror-adventure developed by Ninja Theory dubbed Nicodemus: Demon of Evanishment.

The other three Disney/Marvel experiences are still unannounced at this time.

“Very fundamentally we ask ourselves what are places people have always wanted to step into and be a part of, but were never possible before,” says The VOID’s founder and chief creative officer Curtis Hickman. “Disney and Marvel have a lot of worlds that people want to step into that work well with our technology.”

SEE ALSO
Inside 'Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire', the Latest VR Attraction from The VOID

The VOID hosts virtual reality experiences built around physical environments, letting you interact with objects projected both in the game and present in the physical world. Using specialized equipment like customized VR headsets, VR backpack PC’s, and commercial tracking technology, The VOID calls the VR experiences they deliver, “hyper-reality,” to signify that it goes above and beyond the sort of room-scale VR experience you can have at home with high-end consumer equipment. To boot, the company’s facilities can accommodate up to four users at a time, making for an ideal group outing.

Since it opened its first Utah-based test facility in 2015, the company has expanded its bespoke VR experiences to eight locations spread across North America and the United Arab Emirates. More openings are coming soon however, which include Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Hollywood, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Santa Monica, bringing the total to 17 locations.

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The VOID Expands Into Asian Market With Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire

Location-based virtual reality (VR) specialist The VOID has seen its collaboration with ILMxLAB and Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire go from strength to strength, with the experience rolled out across America as well as the UK. Today, The VOID has revealed further expansion plans by bringing the VR title to Asia for the first time.

The VOID will be taking Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire to Resorts World Genting in Malaysia. Sitting alongside dining and retail outlets as well as entertainment attractions that will include the upcoming indoor and outdoor theme parks, it’ll cater to the almost 25 million visitors which use the resort.

“The VOID’s hyper-reality experiences are taking people to worlds that, until now, only existed in their imaginations. The VOID is leading location-based entertainment to the next level,” said Craig Watson, Chairman of The VOID in a statement. “By making the impossible real and allowing guests to step into completely new and alternate realities. In Star WarsSecrets of the Empire visitors can hear, feel, touch and even smell bringing them closer to the story, characters and places.”

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire takes guests on a unique story in the Star Wars universe, where teams of four under order from the rebellion travel to the molten planet of Mustafar and sneak onto an Imperial Base. During the mission, visitors will encounter familiar Star Wars characters, dispatch Storm Troopers, and work together to succeed.

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire

VRFocus went hands-on with Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire when it was available in London, finding that: “To say that Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire is a premium VR experience is putting it mildly.” Going on to add: “For those that have never tried even a basic VR setup Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will certainly amaze. There were plenty of big smiles from the other groups finishing their session.”

Resorts World Genting will be showcasing Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire later this year, although dates have yet to be specified. For any further updates regarding The VOID’s plans, keep reading VRFocus.

The Void to Open New Location in Mall of America, ‘Star Wars’ VR Experience Coming at Launch

Minnesota’s Mall of America, the United States’ largest mall, is getting the popular VR out-of-home experience The VOID soon.

According to a report by Attractions Magazine, The Void will be opening at the Mall of America first with its successful VR experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, which was created in partnership with Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB.

The Void combines physical spaces with wireless VR headsets (via backpack-mounted PCs) and tracked peripherals to create its seamless blending of the virtual and the physical world. The Star Wars VR experience itself puts blasters in your hands, and allows up to four players to head in at the same time.

“The Void brings a new level of immersive experience and storytelling to Mall of American through its state-of-the-art technology,” said Heather Brechbill-Swilley, vice president of real estate and leasing. “We’re excited to offer guests the chance to be the hero of their own adventure in a variety of beloved universes through The Void’s unique attraction model.”

We went hands-on with the Secrets of the Empire at The Void late last year, and it provided an experience that Road to VR’s Garret Bullard says “definitely nailed the feeling of Star Wars.”

Walking around the corridors on Mustafar felt like we were really sneaking into an Imperial stronghold dressed as Stormtroopers. We were greeted with the familiar cold steel and clean lined interior of an imperial base patrolled by Stormtroopers. Needless to say, the sneaking around didn’t last terribly long, and soon after landing we were engaged in combat with Stormtroopers all around us. Grabbing a physical blaster and returning fire on a group of enemies brought me back to one of my favorite scenes in A New Hope (1977) where Luke and Leia are trapped on the Death Star and must defend themselves from Stormtroopers shooting up at them from below.

The opening mark’s The Void’s first location in the Midwest. New locations coming in the near future include Atlanta, Austin, Hollywood, New York City, Philadelphia, Santa Monica, and Washington D.C. 

Its uncertain when the Mall of America location is set to open, although Mall organizers state it’s “opening soon.”

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The VOID to Open new Experience Centers in Canada in Conjunction With Cineplex

Just over a year ago location-based virtual reality (VR) company The VOID entered the Canadian market through a collaboration with Cineplex, opening a VOID Experience Centre in Toronto at The Rec Room, a location designed to merge videogaming with music, live entertainment and dining. Today, the pair have announced a new, exclusive expansion agreement to add more centre’s across the country.

Star Wars Secret of the Empire

Cineplex now has the exclusive rights to operate The VOID concept across Canada, with a plan to open a minimum of five VOID Experience Centers over the coming years, both inside and outside of Cineplex operated properties.

“In addition to announcing this Canadian market development plan with The VOID, today we are also sharing the news that this summer we will be opening a second location in Canada at our West Edmonton Mall location of The Rec Room,” said Ellis Jacob, President and CEO, Cineplex.  “Entertaining people is what we do best and this truly immersive, engaging and interactive experience is a great addition to our growing list of entertainment offerings.”

Unlike the standalone Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire experience that’s been running in the UK, a VOID Experience Centre will feature both Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire developed by ILMxLAB and Ghostbusters: Dimensions.

Ghostbusters Dimension - THE VOID

“We’re committed to transporting everyone, everywhere on virtual adventures. To deliver on that promise, The VOID will continue to open our unique entertainment centers in key markets and major destination cities,” said Cliff Plumer, CEO of The VOID. “Through our partnership with Cineplex, The VOID will bring immersive VR – through sight, sound, touch, smell and motion – to a broad consumer audience.”

The Canadian announcement follows further expansion plans which The VOID revealed last month, adding nine new locations across the US; Atlanta, Ga.; Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Hollywood, Calif.; Minneapolis, Minn.; New York, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Santa Monica, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. The company also has plans for an original IP, being developed in partnership with Ninja Theory called Nicodemus: Demon of Evanishment. VRFocus will continue its coverage of The VOID, reporting back with its latest announcements.

Hands-On: Sandbox VR Delivers Fun And Adaptable Location-Based VR Gaming

Hands-On: Sandbox VR Delivers Fun And Adaptable Location-Based VR Gaming

When I first tried The Void’s Star Wars installation at Disney World earlier this year, it totally blew me away. I loved how intricately detailed the in-game environment was and that it was mapped to the real world so I could freely move around and reach out to touch walls, levers, and buttons on panels. It was amazing, but scaling that business to more than just a handful of locations isn’t going to be easy. It requires significant space and careful mapping.

Sandbox VR, another, similar, location-based VR gaming space, recently opened up a location at the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, CA with an excellent storefront display right next to one of the main mall entrances. All they need a is a large green room and the software does the rest. The Sandbox VR website also lists locations in Los Angeles, New York, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

What I played was extremely fun and adaptable in a way that I could see this sort of content easily scaling throughout malls, theme parks, and other locations with the foot traffic to support it.

You can see some example footage of the experience above. Everyone that does a Sandbox VR sessions is given digital copies of this mixed reality footage. They even show you the footage immediately after you’re done using an iPad. The cameras are all set up to record and process the video seamlessly, making it extremely easy to watch and share.

As great as The Void was, they don’t have anything like this in place which feels like a major missed opportunity. All they have you do instead is take a regular photo wearing the gear afterwards, but it lacks the mixed reality flair. The setup at Sandbox uses a mixture of HTC Vive Pro headsets, tracked rifles, backpack PCs, haptic feedback vests, and sensors on your wrists and ankles for full-body tracking.

In terms of content, Sandbox VR currently has two experiences as of the time of this writing. The first and most popular one is a standard zombie wave shooter. The games are designed for 4-6 people (they’ve got an even larger room next to the one I played in) but we did it as a pair of just two. You’ll stand inside the box and gun down waves upon waves of undead. Some of them stumble/walk slowly, some run at you, and some of them even climb along the walls and try to incapacitate you with disgustingly long tongues.

It’s fun and it does a good job of introducing the mechanics of using the gun controller and getting comfortable with moving around the space, but it’s pretty basic. If you’ve played The Brookhaven Experiment, HordeZ, Arizona Sunshine, or any countless other zombie shooters then you’ve already played something better to be honest. However, the second game I tried is what really blew me away.

The folks at Sandbox VR didn’t send footage of my time in this one, but basically it’s a Davy Jones-themed cursed pirate ship adventure. You can see some clips directly above right here in the official trailer. Instead of rifles we used flintlock-style pistols and had to fend off waves of an undead pirate crew. The variety in this first scene was already much better as some enemies threw weapons at us, some had swords, and they all moved at various speeds.

Once clearing them out we went down below the deck to a brand new environment where we had to fight off new enemies then solve a puzzle. Each of us had to stand on two buttons at opposite ends of the space and then toss a VR-tracked foam stick (a torch in the game) to light fires. Actually tossing a physical object to my partner, in real-time, inside VR, was really surreal.

The pirate game also had two boss fights. First up was a giant, blind ghost that stumbled around the play space aimlessly trying to catch us. We had to flee by physically running around the room and not bumping into him or each other. That’s easily the fastest I’ve ever moved while in VR and I never once worried about slamming into the wall or tripping over something.

Finally, the grand finale of the game was a boss fight against a giant squid-like monster. We had to dodge laser beams while fighting waves of undead monsters and then using the torch to light the canon and fire off shots to take him down. It was an incredibly fast-paced and dynamic fight that really took advantage of the space, forcing us to constantly move and communicate.

Sandbox VR has a variety of locations you can see on the official website as well as details about opening your own location. A third, sci-fi themed experience is reportedly on the way soon. Let us know what you think from what you’ve seen here down in the comments below!

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The Virtual Arena: The New Drive for Out-of-Home VR (Part 2)

In June a cacophony of announcements regarding major LB-VR projects and new commercial entertainment VR hardware came out – so we conclude this two-part feature with more observations on developments in the Digital Out-of-Home entertainment VR (DOE) scene; with industry specialist, Kevin Williams ending his latest observations of this defining market for VR technology.

As we reported in the previous part of this coverage; companies like The VOID have recently opened VR attractions in Las Vegas – feeding off the casino and tourist industries hunger for immersive entertainment.

The second Future of Immersive Leisure (FOIL) event, organized by KWP, took place in Las Vegas during the previous month and charted many of the new immersive entertainment developments seen on the Strip – and well as the emergence of VR technology internationally as a major draw of new investment into the interactive attraction and amusement scene. During the conference opportunities to see the latest development were made, including visits to the new Level Up amusement venue within the MGM casino, including the installation of a Zero Latency free-roaming experience.

Leading industry specialists from the commercial immersive entertainment supported FOIL’18, including presentations from Schell Games, DreamScape, Ubisoft, LAI Games, VRstudios, Dave & Busters’, IGT, Springboard VR and many other pivotal speakers. The event was also able to gather some interesting exhibits that changed not just the immersive attraction scene, but the penetration of VR in the market. Amusement developer and manufacturer LAI Games came to the FOIL conference with their new Virtual Rabbids: Wild Ride amusement VR entertainment ride system. Offering a gateway for venue operators to evaluate how VR can best suit their audience’s appetites.

Other developments, seeing major brands marrying themselves with immersive attraction projects included Merlin Entertainment, partnering with UK based IMMOTION, to develop The Great LEGO Race VR Experience. This motion-base VR attraction installed at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Boston. IMMOTION using their access to cutting-edge motion simulation, and a commercially proven VR platform (running on the Deepoon headset) – married to a compelling experience that was based on LEGO IP, and is driven by Merlin Entertainment.The Great LEGOLAND Race VR Experience

This development, coming a few weeks after LEGOLAND Florida announced the launch of their ‘The Great LEGO Race’ – a VR coaster experience based in the LEGO minifigures universe, seen by riders on their rollercoasters using special Samsung Gear VR headsets. This VR ride developed under the supervision of Merlin Magic Makers, by Figment Productions – the experience combining a prominent IP with an exciting VR experience.

The combination of unique motion platforms and virtual reality systems has continued a paced with several new visitor attractions opened that comprise this approach. Most recently the European park Futuroscope launched their Sebastien Loeb Racing Experience – developed by French based corporation E-Virtuality, comprising their new e-Motionseat6 platform – guests enjoy an immersive thrill ride in the passenger seat as the famous rally driver puts his vehicle through its paces.

Sebastien Loeb Racing Experience

In this 360’ film that employs 6K resolution – the riders sit on the 6DoF electro-dynamic motion base, but also have a level of interaction. With an auditorium comprising 108 simulators, with each rider wearing an HTC Vive, this is the latest large-scale VR attraction to open in recent months. The theme park industry warming to the unique opportunity that VR offers their audience.

Still in France, but on a reduced scale; the FlyView visitor attraction recently opened in Paris. Using a unique motion platform that emulates a futuristic quad-copter, that the riders stands on as their view the tourist spots of the grand city, from the unique perspective of soaring above the ground. This entertainment experience uses hardware and content developed by CL Corporation – who have a number f promotional VR experiences under their belt and employs HTC Vive HMDs to capture all the action.

Creating a standing VR experience that also employs a dynamic motion-base is a trend being seen from several developers. Only a matter of days ago, Korean robotic and motion platform specialists Sangwha launched their brand-new offering in this genre. The company launching the Flying Jet – a highly dynamic standing motion system, players hold on to their grips as the motion platform tips forward and back and rotates in synchronization to extreme 360’ ride films they view using Samsung Gear VR’s. Sangwha are famous for their Gyro-VR ring-based VR motion experience that wowed so many during CES last year

One of the most unusual of the dynamic motion platforms find a home in the commercial entertainment scene is from ICARACE, pioneers in virtual reality locomotion. The ICAROS platform, using human powered movement, was created to achieve the full physical sensation of flight. Most recently this system has been deployed in a few museums, but the developers have now started to look at the pay-to-play business and even considering their system for fitness and even being seen as a new sports experience.

ICAROS

The development of VR entertainment experiences that fulfil the needs of a wide selection of operations continued. Out-of-Home entertainment seeing great investment in theme parks, but also the deployment of VR in more traditional Family Entertainment Centers (FEC) and the new generation of Social Hang Out’s (#SHO). These social entertainment venues thrive on the group party and socially inclusive entertainment experiences – in many cases aiming for a young adult audience (compared to the more traditional younger visitors).

As reported in our China AAA’18 show coverage, a couple of trends have started to emerge that are proving popular in this latest phase of VR entertainment deployment. One of those being “Tethered VR Enclosures” – four player enclosures with tethered VR headsets suspended from the framework of these enclosures. These systems offer a strong group play dynamic, and offer a strong audience draw, as players compete as a team. Several manufacturers have entered the development of their own platforms in this genre, and we can expect to see offerings that comprise the fundamentals of this genre, employing new software that building on the experience. Canadian studio Minority Media has developed their own new attraction Chaos Jump – a highly competitive four-player experience that will be soon available as a VR arcade title, and a stand-along tethered enclosure.

Chaos Jump

Another platform in this genre that is about to burst onto the scene is TOWER TAG – developed by German based VR Nerds Gmbh, the product has already been taken up by CA SEGA JOYPOLIS – the Chinese amusement operation of the popular amusement and game company SEGA – the first TOWER TAG systems were installed at SEGA VR AREA location in Japan. Emboldened by this success the German developers have started the arduous process of conceiving their own tethered enclosure platform that they can sell to other operators in the West.

These two editorials have hoped to illustrate the growing momentum in development of this unique market. Interest is growing for more information and consumer VR development concerns now pivot their investment towards working in this market – most recently we saw the successful developer SURVIOS open their first VR arcade and have already started to promote other new commercial VR projects. We can expect continuing major announcement from influential players in consumer game, movie and attractions regarding their new concepts in this direction.

Another example, illustrating the continued growth in interest for the commercial entertainment sectors engagement with VR; sees KWP, the author of this column, invited to present the keynote at June’s Bristol VR Lab Out-of-home entertainment afternoon seminar  – BVRL’s sixth afternoon seminar will be focusing on the topic of out-of-home VR and location-based entertainment.

Expect to see even more coverage of the explosion of LB-VR and VR arcade projects in the coming weeks, especially as more details of the changing consumer VR landscape emerge following this year’s E3 convention.