Theme Park to Integrate VR Experiences Within RL Settings

Way back in the 90s as a seriously naive kid, when virtual reality was enjoying its first hype wave, I sent a fan e-mail to Howard Rheingold, and stupidly said, "Hey wouldn't it be cool to use VR headsets while moving around a huge soundstage with various physical obstacles like ramps , etc. so when our VR headset displayed, like, a mountain, we'd actually have to climb the ramp?" Howard agreed that that sounded like a good idea, and I was totally surprised someone didn't build a VR soundstage right there and then.

Well, 20 years later, someone finally has:

Welcome to the Void (which is a pretty dark name for a theme park, but OK):

[S]et to debut in 2016 in Pleasant Grove, Utah, [The Void] is meant to be the first of many such centers around the world. The rooms are continuously reconfigurable and can even have their surfaces changed. This means that if your VR headset has you hiding behind a tree, you could feel its rough bark. If you're trying to open a spaceport, you could feel the metal beneath your hand.

Laser Tag is a pretty popular past time, so I can see a VR version taking off. But I'm pretty sure the video above is overselling what the Void can actually deliver. Group experiences, for instance, are probably impossible to pull off as billed:

I mean, what happens to all these folks when they see a VR dragon swooping down, and trying to slay it, they proceed to whirl around and beat the crap out of each other?

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Comments

[sirhc DeSantis]

Flailing around with a stick and beating up your mates for fun will probably be its biggest selling point. And why not :)

[Steven Losco]

While not for me, this will sell sell sell. To me, this is about immersive you could get for mass market, without major damage to your surroundings. I look forward to following this project.