Dave & Buster’s has become one of the biggest purveyors of location-based virtual reality (VR) entertainment in North America thanks to 122 locations displaying VR experiences like Jurassic World VR Expedition. Today, thanks to a long-running partnership with VRstudios the pair have announced Star Trek: Dark Remnant.
Developed by Strange Reptile and VRstudios, Star Trek: Dark Remnant is a Dave & Buster’s exclusive. The multiplayer VR experience puts players in control of the U.S.S. Galileo, Starfleet’s most advanced research vessel.
The story synopsis explains that the U.S.S. Galileo is: “accompanying the U.S.S. Enterprise on a routine mission to evacuate a stellar observatory located in the middle of the Klingon Neutral Zone and learn more about the decaying neutron star it orbits. When the neutron star collapses prematurely it leaves the Enterprise incapacitated. It’s now up to YOU to protect her from stellar debris – and the unwelcome arrival of a Klingon ship out for vengeance.”
During the videogame players will be able to control the U.S.S. Galileo’s phasers, deflector shields, and sensors to create a unique VR experience. And to keep players coming back for more Star Trek: Dark Remnant has several different endings to unlock, subtle differences in gameplay, randomized player characters, and dialogue that responds in real-time.
“Players get a perspective of the Star Trek universe in a different way than they have experienced before – coming face-to-face with the Enterprise in all its beauty and splendour,” said Chanel Summers, VRstudios’ Vice President of Creative Development in a statement. “Working together with Strange Reptile on this title has enabled us both to use our complementary strengths to delight players with this unique Star Trek adventure. We have combined all the well-established frameworks of Star Trek with some all-new story elements and characters, while also delivering multiple different endings to keep players coming back for more!”
This is the third title which Dave & Buster’s has deployed using VRstudios’ VRcade Attraction Management Platform (AMP) since 2018, with AMP also being used in other locations across the country. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Dave & Buster’s and VRstudios, reporting back with any further collaborative announcements in the future.
Dave & Busters is outfitting its more than 100 locations with a new winter-themed dragon-riding VR attraction from VRstudios.
Earlier this year Dave & Busters rolled out a Jurassic World VR attraction at all its locations that offered a relatively low cost action-packed journey to the infamous park while wearing an HTC Vive VR headset.
The content for that attraction came from Los Angeles-based Virtual Reality Company while Bellevue, Washington-based VRstudios provided the “VRcade Attraction Management Platform” for managing and operating the simulators.
You can now ride a dragon at Dave & Busters.
With Dragonfrost, VRstudios “pulled together an extended team of top-tier partners” to develop the experience as well for Dave & Busters.
Players sitting next to one another in the real world “will be seen virtually riding their own dragon hundreds of feet away.” Different flight paths for each dragon means that you could replay the game several times and have a different experience each time.
Watch out for Ice Hawks in Dragonfrost.
The winter fairy tale offers a journey “through the magical icy and wondrous land of Dragonfrost while battling orc encampments with goblins, orcs, trolls, plenty of explosives – and even Ice Hawks! The objective is to defeat the Ice Prince and his Army of Ice in order to restore peace and prosperity to the land of Dragonfrost,” according to VRstudios.
While Dave & Busters hasn’t released numbers to back it up, the Jurassic World attraction saw such a strong launch that Dave & Busters representatives say they will be working to increase capacity for the VR attraction in 2019. We consider the work to be a bright spot in the location-based VR market in the United States where efforts like IMAX VR struggled to find an audience.
Industry specialist Kevin Williams of KWP, concludes his report on the latest developments shaping the digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) sector and all things to do with Commercial virtual reality (VR) deployment seen internationally. In this final part we see the drive for new investment and the realities and speculation on the market’s true worth.
With this final part of our coverage and we rush from Germany, to the Czech-Republic, and a major event in the country’s capital, underlined the influence that this new commercial entertainment utopia is having on the investment community. Held at the beginning of September, Future Port Prague was a two-day gathering of innovative technology trends and influential speakers on the subject. Along with dedicated conference events there was a showcase arena that comprised demonstrations of the latest tech-trends, ranging from Drone racing, electric-automobiles, smart home appliances and 3D printing to just name some of the exhibits. As part of this, local Czech developers were also promoting their influence on the scene, and VR made a big showing.
Future Port Prague 2018 – A packed outdoor festival conference stage. (Credit: KWP)
We have already mentioned in part one of this feature Beat Games; the Czech-based company had a version of the Beat Saber VR arcade setup demonstrating to attendees in the VR Zone of the event. It was interesting to see that unlike normal VR arcade deployments of the game, this enclosure used the latest technology from new industry start-up LIV. The green-screen enclosure and specially tracked virtual camera, placed the player in the centre of the action, superimposing them into the virtual environment – but not only creating a great audience element, the LIV system has been developed to offer a unique takeaway, with the player able to download a video of their ‘performance’, with appropriate social media hooks. The company looking to deploy this platform at several VR arcades.
LIV offers an added element to the Beat Saber experience. (Credit: KWP)
Another local Czech-based developer is DIVR Labs – the company famous for a local Prague tourist attraction that is seeing phenomenal business. Golem VR (not to be confused with the otherGolem), the attraction is one of the largest free-roaming virtual experiences operating. The basement of the local Prague Hamleys toy store transformed to accommodate a backpack-based VR experience using Oculus CV1’s. Groups of up to four guests traverse the virtual environment – in an experience that sees them transported through time to the 16th century, to discover the mythical Golem and its creator in an interpretation of the story. DIVR has partnered with Hamleys to develop this first free-roaming VR adventure that has no weapons or shooting (one of the first of its kind). The company in negotiations to open additional venues.
A view of the Golem VR experience at Hamleys in the city centre. (Credit: KWP)(Credit: KWP)
Returning to Future Port Prague, and another Czech-based developer, VRgineers took an exhibition space to offer the first public demonstrations of their XTAL head-mounted display (HMD). This system offers what the company calls an Enterprise-ready solution with a world’s first AutoEye system, offering automatically aligned lenses to the user’s eyes as well as an incredible wide field of view. The system has already been taken up by the local automotive industry, and the company is now in the process of receiving additional investment towards offering the platform too interested location-based VR developers. The company running at the event the ability to fly in a networked aerial combat using the visual fidelity achieved with the XTAL.
The XTAL headset in action. (Credit: KWP)
The next phase of high-end VR headsets has seen a shift in focus towards Enterprise opportunities (a sector prepared to pay for a technological lead). Most recently Kickstarter-funded Pimax demonstrated in Europe the production version of the Pimax 8K wide-field of view system, but also at the same time revealed a cost-reduced version. We saw at the Chinese Amusement trade conference in March one of the first Chinese attraction developers experimenting with the Pimax dev-kit on their robotic arm motion platform, and there are reports of at least one major VR park developer looking to deploy this at their site.
VR Enlightenment – Up in the air in a Pimax back at the Asia Amusement & Attractions (AAA) Expo 2018. (Credit: KWP)
The consideration to a wholly focused Enterprise initiative was also seen from StarVR, the company’s Vice Chairman Jerry Kao reported as saying the company was shifting its operational focus to high-end enterprise applications, with the location-based entertainment market to aerospace and automotive. This was reported following the companies unveiling of the StarVR One HMD during SIGGRAPH in Canada. The new headset offering what the company calls a “100% human viewing angle” is clearly packaged to address a DOE centric business model; building on previous associations with IMAX, SEGA and the VRPark in Dubai, as well as through VR attraction projects with Starbreeze
This year’s SIGGRAPH saw a major push towards location-based VR application of the latest high-end graphics and computer power – many exhibitors showing a shift towards this new business dimension. Leading tracking specialists OptiTrack, introduced their new Active Puck Mini at the event, offering a cost effective and 40% reduced option. The company confirmed that along with conventional motion capture business the system had Location-Based entertainment offerings squarely in their sites. The company has been deployed in many of the leading free-roaming VR installations, and OptiTrak has partnered with Dreamscape Immersive, offering their tracking solution, as well as working in conjunction with several other developers.
Dreamscape Immersive, have been in the news for the tests of their own free-roaming Alien Zoo concept – and the company partnered with movie theatre chain AMC Entertainment late last year, the deal coming after closing some $20 million (USD) of their Series B funding. It is this drive by the movie theatre business to embrace the opportunities of LBE VR that has seen momentous developments in recent weeks. One of the biggest was the announcement that Canadian cinema giants Cineplex had signed a strategic partnership with VRstudios (famous for their VRcade platform and VR experiences). The deal saw Cineplex strategically invest in their VR business, with at least 40 multiplex and location-based entertainment centres planned in the Canada territory by 2021.
Group of players start their progress through VRcade’s Terminal 17 at IAAPA 2017. (Credit: KWP)
This undertaking is mirrored by other cinema chains taking the plunge. The VOID’s “hyper-reality” location-based entertainment (LBE) operation, announced the first “In-Theatre” VR installation in the States – following the signing of an exclusive expansion agreement with leading entertainment and media company Cinemark. This development also saw The VOID LBE VR venues opening across Canada. This news follows on from continuing developments in the movie-theatre sector to embrace the opportunity of VR attractions tailored for their unique audience mix. With the expansion of the operation The VOID was also linked to brand new game content building on influential Intellectual Properties (IPs) – a joint venture of ILMxLAB, a division of Lucasfilm, and The VOID, will see a “one-of-a-kind, original adventure” based in the Wreck-it Ralph films’ unique world (tentatively called Ralph Breaks VR). This is the first of several immersive virtual reality properties from the developer, based on film licenses, building on previous Ghostbusters and Star Wars experiences.
Investing into the cinema scene has gained momentum as the theatre business has seen in the US a 16% decline in ticket sales, attributed to a need for a more diverse offering for the “millennially-minded” audience hoping to be attracted to their locations. Following a spate of mergers and acquisitions in this sector the market has fixated on finding an entertainment-mix to incorporate as a “in-theatre” offering. As we reported in our coverage from the LBE VR summit, manufacturers such as D-BOX Technologies had invested in their own D-BOX Cinematic VR Experience which launched earlier in the year at an Ottawa theatre.
D-BOX’s cinema seat put through its paces with the latest VR experiences created for this sector. (Credit: KWP)
This also brings us to developer Nomadic, who have been developing their own location-based adventure-based, tactile VR experiences – the company has promoted heavily in the cinema industry (presenting at the 2017 CinemaCon, and reportedly raising some $6 million in seed funding). Focused initially on a in-theatre approach, the company recently announced they had partnered with Vertigo Games to deploy a turn-key, modular-based VR platform based on Arizona Sunshine LB Elite. The first installations schedule to open fall this year. How much this space will mirror the wireless VR experience seen at Gamescom, in Germany recently has yet to be revealed. But this nicely takes us full circle from where this coverage began.
Arizona Sunshine LBE at Gamescom 2018. (Via HTC)
In just a matter of months and we have seen a level of investment in immersive entertainment focusing on developing virtual reality – far surpassing the previously wild speculation of the consumer VR sector. We have seen colourful analysis on the worth of the Commercial Entertainment or LBE VR market – most notably the SuperData chart that looked at a $995 million valuation of Location-Based entertainment by 2021. And we have seen other charts rise the gambit as high as $12 Billion by 2023 (Greenlight Insights), hopeful speculation to be sure – but based on a growing hunger to maximise the aspirations of the audience, to the abilities of this sectors technology, where the consumer equivalent has failed to deliver (for whatever reasons).
LBE Market Forecast via SuperData
It is important to understand that the VR arcades scene is still at a very early stage of development and has by no means established itself as a dependable business model. One such example of this is the IMAX pilot scheme to establish their concept of IMAX VR LBE operations. News recently broke that two of the seven opened sites had been closed (one in New York and one in Shanghai). The IMAX board had already revealed at the beginning of the year in an investor call that the sites were not all operating at the expected financial level, and there was no real surprise that the roll out was being reversed.
On a recent visit to the only European IMAX VR location in Manchester, the site was seen to be closed off for a private party – and while claimed to still be popular, it was revealed that the adjacent Odeon cinema had been giving away vouchers for free VR experiences, with the purchase of movie tickets; in a hope to drive some business. We have also heard reports of major reshufflings of executive teams and complete management replacements at some of the early LBE VR manufacturers and operators, The VOID saw the departure of their CTO and CEO, while other operations in pivoting towards a commercial entertainment business model have had to drastically restructure their executive team, unable to fathom the realities of the DOE business.
But we have not seen anything yet, and one of Europe’s largest amusement and attraction conventions is about to take place in a matter of weeks – already sources have revealed a record number of new VR attractions about to be launched. While the UK amusement trade will hold their Autumn Coin-Op Show (ACOS), taking place at Olympia London during October, and will include the first London Future of Immersive Leisure (FOIL) seminar run alongside ACOS, focusing on the business opportunities presented by immersive technology to the UK’s out-of-home entertainment industry (this event hosted by our consultancy KWP) – look out on VRFocus for the latest developments from these events in the days and weeks to come.
The Canadian cinema giant Cineplex has announced that it has signed a strategic partnership with the Seattle-based VRStudios that features a “significant” equity investment in the maker of commercial virtual reality (VR) arcades. Though the full terms of this deal have not been disclosed, but part of the agreement will see Cineplex install up to 40 VRStudios arcades in their multiplexes and location-based entertainment centers across Canada by 2021.
As reported by Hollywood Reporter, the two strategic partners will also work to “broader expansion opportunities” in North America and elsewhere outside Canada. As VRStudios sells commercial VR experiences to theme parks, arcades, amusement parks, family entertainment centers, casinos and theatrical multiplexes. Cineplex have in the pasted installed a number of VRStudios attractions at an out-of-home entertainment venue in Edmonton, Alberta, before expanding its agreement.
In a statement about the new partnership, Cineplex President and CRO Ellis Jacob explains: “We are not just deploying VR across our network, we are strategically investing in the market to create new revenue streams as well as critical mass and scale for growth,”
Courtesy of Cineplex Entertainment
It was only earlier this month that VRStudios announced a new location-based VR configuration for the VRcade PowerPlay product line which would allow it to work better in smaller arena spaces. This means that now more locations then ever before would be able to offer these immersive experiences without needing a massive location in which to set up the technology needed to provide it. Their flagship VRcade PowerPlay product supports up to eight players within one space but the new configuration will allow for between two-six players.
Cineplex has already leveraged a number of different high-end VR attractions like The Void within their multiplexes in order to stand out in the market and attract customers to their locations. With this new deal they will soon be able to provide even more experiences to their customers and expand on the already inviting offering that they have available.
VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on Cineplex and VRStudios in the future so make sure to stay tuned to keep up to date in the future.
What a difference a month makes! We enter June to a cacophony of announcements regarding major LB-VR projects and new hardware using powerful Intellectual Properties (IP), deployment aimed squarely at virtual reality (VR) and the digital out-of-home entertianment (DOE) scene. Industry specialist, Kevin Williams continues his retrospective of developments in this emerging market.
Anyone that tried to ignore or label the Out-of-Home application of VR as an unimportant niche, has had to concede their folly. Following an avalanche of news stories, and investment, regarding brand-new Location-Based VR development. We have followed many of these projects from their inception some years ago and seeing them reach fruition is a vindication of the investment that big IP are willing to bet on DOE VR implementation; all this, while the consumer VR scene seems to be at a major crossroad.
One of the largest social entertainment brands, caused a rash of mainstream media headlines with the announcement that they would be installing, what has been called the “World’s largest commercial multiplayer VR attraction, at over 110 Dave & Busters’ (D&B) locations. The attraction called Jurassic World: VR Expedition – has been developed in partnership with pioneering developer of turn-key large-scale, multiplayer, free-roaming commercial VR attraction systems, VRstudios. The four-player VR attraction incorporates a motion platform and uses HTC Vive headsets and controllers, to immerse players in the Jurassic World environment in a fast-paced virtual experience.
D&B had previously carried out several experiments with early VR technology, considering the best deployment that meets their exacting needs and audience demographics. The company having a history in incorporating VR into their mix, being one of the major supporters of the technology back in the last heyday of VR amusement in the 1990’s. This new VR attraction builds on lessons learned and incorporates what VRstudios has named their VRcade Attraction Management Platform (AMP) to operate and manage the new attraction across the D&B sites.
It was revealed that HTC is taking the new D&B project so seriously that they signed an agreement with the social entertainment venue that will see over 500 HTC Vive headsets deployed to D&B locations across the USA and Canada. This is one of the largest mass deployments of this VR headset into the Out-of-Home entertainment scene in the West; while HTC has already signed other large deployment partnerships – as we reported in our AAA’18 coverage, in affiliation with developer VR LEKE.
Beyond the motion platform approach to VR entertainment – we have seen an explosion of investment in VR free-roaming (Arena-Scale) experiences, also driven by major IP that have garnered many of the big headlines in recent weeks. One of the biggest was the announcement of Terminator Genisys – Time Machine – again based on a major cinematic universe. This Arena-Scale VR experience has been conceived by SPACES, a Californian based immersive entertainment developer, in partnership with IP holder Skydance Media.
It is important to understand that SPACES, a relatively new operation, comprises a strong talent pool of skilled specialist in the creating of immersive attractions – the company including ex-DreamWorks executives with film and attraction experience and is supported by a major investment chain that includes the likes of Songcheng Performance Development Co., Ltd, (one of the world’s biggest theme-park and performing arts companies), Comcast Ventures and GREE, to name a few.
The first of the corporation’s immersive VR attractions sees groups take part in elements taken from the cinematic universe of Terminator – but along with more familiar game elements, there is a team interaction and puzzle solving, as well the overall experience incorporating the personalization of the experience with scanning of the players, and a repeat visitation element. The company partnering their attraction with established location-based destinations (theme parks, tourist destinations, theaters and malls). All aspects driving the innovation of LB-VR into the mainstream.
Not all the major IP being deployed into the commercial entertainment scene comes from Hollywood – recently opened in Japan, we saw the first VR deployment of the popular consumer game brand Dragon Quest. The latest installation within BANDAI NAMCO’s VR ZONE at their Shinjuku facility, the specially developed Dragon Quest VR – that sees four players taking on the unique roles within a virtual representation of the Square Enix RPG.
This Arena-Scale experience supporting up to four players, utilizing unique interfaces such as swords, shields, and staffs, but also the ability for certain characters to cast spells with their wands. The game, concluding with a boss fight, where the party must learn to work as a team to succeed. BANDAI NAMCO have stated that they look towards leveraging more IP into their VR experiences, seeing this as a strong platform to create compelling experiences building on their amusement experience. We have already seen a previous free-roaming VR experience launched by the company based on the Ghost in The Shell anima series.
Free-roaming VR technology is not just driven from Asian and American developments – great strides in innovation have been seen in Europe, such as with Swiss based trueVRsystems announcing a few weeks ago their sixth arcade installation in Stockholm, Sweden. Installing a modular 2 x 150m² system that offers groups of players with VR backpacks the chance to explore virtual experiences. The system one of only a few that can support up to 10-players, using full bodying tracking and deploying interfaces such as the StriverVR weapon system.
Another company building on their cinematic universe, to create compelling VR attractions, recently opened the doors to their first test location. 20th Century Fox (FoxNext Destination group) partnering with iP2 and Pure Imagination Studios to develop and launched their ALIEN: DESCENT experience; opening for the first time at The Outlets, at Orange in Orange County, South California. A shopping mall retail unit converted into become a dedicated VR entertainment venue.
This themed VR experience, incorporates a 2,000-sq ft. free-roam space with groups of players navigating virtually rendered darkened corridors, and blasting Xenomorphs, in a full virtual experience. The platform has been in secret test for several months as the company’s perfected their vision of the best VR experience. Using the Samsung Gear VR as their immersive platform, married to a force feedback weapon – again using the StrikerVR gun.
It is great to see StrikerVR, one of the early developers in this latest phase of the VR landscape, making headway, though aspirations in the consumer sector have pivoted to a wholly commercial entertainment business model. Some of the new projects launching in recent months deploy the StrikerVR system – which has completed an arduous evaluation and testing phase to become a dominant brand in this sector.
One of the leading lights in the deployment of Arena-Scale virtual attractions, The VOID announced nine additional locations, bringing the company’s total footprint to 18 venues. This growth marks the progression of The VOID to establish their unique “Hyper Reality” experience that launched back in 2016 with their first location at Madame Tussauds in New York (partnered with Sony Pictures and Merlin Entertainment). The process of doubling its locations comes as the company closed a very successful Series A round of investment.
“Move along…”
Las Vegas recently saw the opening of the latest VOID location (now partnered with Walt Disney), placed within the Venetian Casino Resort – the latest installation of their VR backpack experience based around the cinematic universe of Star Wars. The VOID started with another of their games based around the Ghostbusters IP – and is looking to continue this path of innovation while emerging the guest in an interactive film like narrative.
This opening in Las Vegas last month coincided with several VR openings in this entertainment capital. Several major LV casino resorts incorporating a VR offering to appeal to the “Millennial audience”, looking for a new draw beyond the gaming floors of the casinos. One such example was seen at New York-New York casino resort, who have augmented their popular rollercoaster by added VR Coaster technology. Riders wearing Samsung Gear VR headsets that supply a sweeping VR ride experience to the twists and turns of the coaster.
Watch this space for the next and final part of this latest coverage into DOE, coming soon to The Virtual Arena and VRFocus.
There have been a slowly increasing number of large-scale, location-based virtual reality (VR) experiences based on popular entertainment franchises. Jurassic World is now joining that list thanks to the work of VRstudios and Dave & Buster’s.
VRStudios provide solutions for location-based multiplayer VR experiences, and will be using its VRcade platform to manage the new Dave & Buster’s Jurassic World VR experience.
The deployment of the VRcade Attraction Management Platform (AMP) is part of a wider collaboration between Dave & Buster’s and VRStudios, with the two companies working together to build all the key components of the new attraction, including the VR hardware and motion control software.
The VRcade AMP has been designed to offer easy deployment and control for local operators. The system has a central user interface which covers areas such as motion control, status monitoring, content management and even customer line management. All of this can be operated from a touchscreen tablet, with a specific profile for each employee.
“We are honored to be a trusted partner to Dave & Buster’s, the leading restaurant/entertainment complexes in North America,” said Kevin Vitale, VRstudios CEO. “Their new attraction is a breakthrough for extending commercial availability of true multi-player virtual reality to locations around the country. AMP enables the seamless integration of technology and content from best-in-class providers including Hewlett-Packard, HTC, Universal Studios and The Virtual Reality Company.”
“We’ve been very thoughtful and particular about how we introduce VR attractions to our stores, and it was critical that we engage with a trusted partner and technology leader in commercial VR systems,” said Kevin Bachus, SVP Entertainment & Games Strategy. “We have a longstanding relationship with VRstudios. They are a pioneer of multi-player VR attractions for location-based entertainment, and we’ve capitalized on that experience for both their enterprise technology and managing the large-scale integration of our unique attraction.”
The Jurassic World VR Expedition will be available at all Dave & Buster’s locations from 14th June, 2018. For future coverage of new and upcoming VR events and experiences, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Ein neues VR-Studio mit prominenter Besetzung öffnete kürzlich in London seine Pforten, um nach eigenen Angaben VR-Erfahrungen völlig neu zu definieren. Mit Maze Theory gründeten Geoff Heath (Managing Director von Activision) und Mark Hardy (European Marketing Director von PlayStation) in Partnerschaft mit Output Group ein neues Entwicklerstudio mit alleinigem Fokus auf VR-Produktionen sowie Storytelling. Die erste VR-Erfahrung The Vanishing Act befindet sich bereits in der Alpha-Phase.
Maze Theory – Neues VR-Studio mit prominenter Besetzung
Die beiden Urgesteine der Gaming-Industrie Geoff Heath und Mark Hardy gründeten kürzlich in Kooperation mit der Kreativagentur Output Group das neue VR-Studio Maze Theory, das mit kreativem Storytelling bisher nie da gewesene VR-Erfahrungen entwickeln möchte.
GeoffHeath war European Managing Director von Activision und weist mehr als 40 Jahre Erfahrung in der Spiele-Industrie auf, während Hardy als European Marketing Director von PlayStation fungierte. Auf sein Konto ging das europäische Marketing-Management der PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 sowie des PlayStation Networks. Außerdem war er für die weltweite Vermarktung von Singstar zuständig. Neben den beiden Galionsfiguren treten weitere Veteranen dem neu gegründeten Unternehmen bei. Dazu zählen Dr. David Ranyard (ehemaliger Head of Sony London), Ian Hableton als CEO sowie Marcus Moresby als Creative Director.
Hardy sieht die Zukunft der Videospielindustrie in der virtuellen Realität, wie in folgender Aussage deutlich wird: „Die Spieleindustrie entwickelt sich kontinuierlich weiter und Virtual Reality ist dabei die nächste natürliche Evolutionsstufe. Mit Maze Theory möchten wir für noch mehr Innovation in diesem Sektors sorgen und hochklassige VR-Spiele entwickeln, die dabei helfen, die Technologie voranzutreiben.”
Das neue VR-Studio arbeitet bereits an ihrem ersten Projekt namens The Vanishing Act, das sich derzeit in der Alpha-Phase befindet. Der VR-Titel wurde vorher von Entwicklerstudio Found Studio entwickelt, das Teil der Output Group war.
Wann das erste VR-Projekt The Vanishing Act veröffentlicht wird, ist derzeit jedoch noch unklar.
Deep in the trenches at the World’s largest theme park, visitor attraction and amusement extravaganza (called IAAPA), in the heartland of the theme resort industry (Orlando, FL), and VRFocus special columnist on the Digital Out-of-Home Entertainment (DOE) sector – Kevin Williams – gives us a brief snapshot of developments spied on the expo floor.
The vast IAAPA 2017 show floor breaks record on attendance and number of exhibitors.
MediaMation
Presented a brand new HTC Vive powered platform incorporated with their 4D motion chairs, in partnership with Viveport Arcade.
CJ4D
Demonstrated their new 4DX VR 360° incorporating the Samsung Gear VR into a unique fully rotational motion seat platform.
Birdly
The developed VR flying experience makes its first appearance at the theme park convention looking to attract interest from facility operators – running on the HTC Vive.
Lotte World
An amazing mixture of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) demonstrated from the Korean based developer, representing a virtual coaster based on the movements of a real model traversing the track in real-time, powered by Samsung Gear VR’s and an amazing new motion platform.
Skyfun Animation
A number of the latest Chinese VR Park platforms start to make landfall in the West, Skyfun running a number of their VR platform for the show audience to try, running on the groundbreaking Deepoon DPVR E3 headset (seen for the first time in the States).
Hologate
VR Arcade one-stop solution for interested operators available from a number of providers on the show floor – Hologate, partnering with laser-tag and escape room specialists Creative Works to provide a solution for interested buyers.
VRStudios
The latest free-roaming (Arena-Scale) experiences presented with VRcade Arena running on the show floor – the company in partnership with NVIDIA and HP to bring this platform to the market.
Maxflight
Veteran developer of their unique 360° motion simulator has revealed a brand new concept of their platform now running twin Oculus Rift headsets to supply the virtual environment, married to the extreme motion platform.
And finally, forget VR – how about actual reality! Calinfer S.A working in partnership with UNIS, recreates Atari’s PONG, using a mechanical recreation of the legendary title that started the video game genre!
This brief snapshot, of just some of the new releases on display, is intended to wet the appetite for his full coverage of the trends and development for the VR community from the 2017 IAAPA Attractions Expo, in the coming days.
Though virtual reality (VR) is still growing in popularity, high-end VR experiences remain out of reach for many, due to considerations such as cost and space requirements. Location-based VR centres have started to grow in popularity as a way to fill the void, and one such solution, the VRcade Arena from VRstudios will be showcased at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo.
VRcade Arena is designed to be a arena-scale, multiplayer, free-roaming VR system that has been based on VRstudios existing Attraction Management Platform. It has been created to over a turnkey solution that can be installed in locations without needing a specialised location to be built.
The VRcade Arena system will be demonstrated at IAAPA Expo using the recently announced Terminal 17 VR experience, a multiplayer action-adventure title which allows squads of up to eight players to roam around the arena and communicate with each other to solve puzzles and defend the base.
Attendees at IAAPA will be able to see how the VRcade Arena system works in practice, allowing managers of VR arcade facilities the ability to manage hardware, software, user profiles and content as well as keep an eye on user data and other analytics.
“VRstudios will be demonstrating the capabilities of the VRcade Arena to IAAPA attendees interested in offering a large-scale, high-volume attraction that will fascinate and entertain their guests utilizing technology specifically designed for Location-Based Entertainment,” said Kevin Vitale, VRstudios’ CEO. “The VRcade Arena and custom-tailored attractions, such as Terminal 17, provide an unprecedented, fully immersive VR experience that offers an exciting VR attraction to complement LBE businesses.”
The IAAPA Attractions Expo is due to take place from 13th-17th November, at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando, Florida. Further information can be found at the official website.
VRFocus will continue to report on new developments in location-based VR.
VRStudios, the location-based virtual reality (VR) company, has today announced its latest partnership to improve its tech offerings to commercial outlets. The company has now partnered with Beijing-based TPCAST to use its wireless technology in a new VRcade product line.
The partnership with TPCAST will provide VRstudios with technology that will be utilised for a new product concept (to be announced soon) that will complement the company’s existing VRcade Zone and VRcade Arena systems.
“VRstudios was the first company in the world to provide totally wireless, full-motion capability to virtual reality,” said Kevin Vitale, VRstudios’ CEO in a statement. “By partnering with TPCAST we can provide an even more comprehensive product line of high performance attractions to address the requirements of LBE facilities around the globe. This exemplifies the benefits of our Attraction Management Platform(tm) that has been designed to allow easy integration of the best emerging technologies in the VR industry.”
“We are excited to partner with VRstudios, the leader in delivering immersive VR attractions to the commercial LBE market, and enable them to expand the LBE industry and create a pivotal change in the future of wireless, full-motion, arena-scale VR,” said Udi Yuhjtman, TPCAST’s North America GM. “TPCAST is committed to the VR market by supporting untethered high-end systems providing a fully immersive experience with enhanced video and audio quality.”
VRStudios announced the VRcade Arena and its Attraction Management Platform (AMP) software back in June, as a means of providing a warehouse-scale VR platform for up to eight simultaneous users, offering full-motion, immersive and competitive gaming experiences.
AMP as well as a half-sized VRcade Arena will be demonstrated for the first time publicly at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo in Orlando, Florida, 14-17 November.
TPCAST is already available for HTC Vive and most recently the company announced work on a version for Oculus Rift. The company has said the Wireless Adapter will be available by the end of Q4 2017, supporting 2K video transmission at 90FPS with sub 2ms latency and a 5 hour battery life.
As further details are released VRFocus will keep you updated.
One of the largest social entertainment brands, caused a rash of mainstream media headlines with the announcement that they would be installing, what has been called the “World’s largest commercial multiplayer VR attraction, at over 110 Dave & Busters’ (D&B) locations. The attraction called 
MediaMation
Lotte World
Skyfun Animation
Hologate
VRStudios
Maxflight
And finally, forget VR – how about actual reality! Calinfer S.A working in partnership with UNIS, recreates Atari’s PONG, using a mechanical recreation of the legendary title that started the video game genre!
This brief snapshot, of just some of the new releases on display, is intended to wet the appetite for his full coverage of the trends and development for the VR community from the 2017 IAAPA Attractions Expo, in the coming days.
