THE VOID (“Vision Of Infinite Dimensions”) — a VR gaming centre in Salt Lake City, Utah, which plans to make more like a fusion of the best video games ever.
With the rise of virtual reality headsets, a lot of people have been wondering how far are we from fully immerse ‘holodeck’ experiences?
By merging physical environments with VR headsets, the company is planning to open a theme play park where you can take part in out-of-this-world adventures – by yourself.
‘The first centre will open around the summer of 2016 in Utah -where the Headquarters is located,’ says the CEO and founder Ken Bretschneider.
They are also planning to open parks in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Australia – although dates are not yet confirmed.
How it feels:
Hugging walls, crouching behind cover or interacting with physical objects will all be part of the games. Real special effects such as bursts of smoke and cobwebs, the company plans to make the environments as real as possible.
In the ‘Virtual Entertainment Centres players will be able to go alone or team up with others to battle enemies and explore immerse environments.
For example, players will ‘feel’ when they have been shot by a laser or hit by a creature.
‘Rapture Vest doesn’t simply vibrate, it gives every VR object that comes in contact with it a life of its own,’ Specially designed Rapture Gloves will also allow players to see their hands in the virtual world and interact with virtual objects.
VR Technology:
This technology allows creating the illusion that the player is exploring miles of terrain or incredibly tall structures without ever leaving our game pod. The end result is a physical connection to the virtual world and a sense of exploration.
“Only limited by imagination, our advanced Virtual-Reality technologies allow you to see, move, and feel our digital worlds in a completely immersive and realistic way,” stated the company.
The centers will also use “gaming pods” that will deliver a variety of sensations such air pressure, cold, heat, moisture, touch, vibrations, elevation changes, smells and even simulated liquids. Even the walls will be re-configurable, said Bretschneider.
Theme park cost:
Bretschneider has put $13 million of his own money into this project; with the help of this amount he has built a team of 30 to create the suits, gloves and headsets attendees will wear inside The Void as well as to perfect the motion-tracking software, a critical component to the success of his system.
The Void in summer of 2016 by offering visitors experiences lasting a half-hour each. While he hasn’t revealed the cost, he has said that they will be “affordable.”