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A Look At the World's First Virtual Reality Theme Park

Posted by timothy on from the movie-in-the-making dept.

redletterdave writes: The Void is the first company to create a virtual reality theme park, where virtual experiences are layered on top of physical, real world environments. Tech Insider was the first media outlet to visit The Void's headquarters in Utah, filming the company's first creations. These experiences are still far from final, but the footage is impressive and entertaining. This is not Lazer Tag.

4 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. wow... by steak · · Score: 3, Funny

    I could swear I was playing virtual skeeball.

    --
    lose != loose
  2. LARP? by myrdos2 · · Score: 2

    This might be the technology we need to bring LARPing out of the realm of 'extremely geeky'. Also, I bet the US military is going to want to get its hands on this one for training purposes. Or murder mystery theater when you're a participant in the actual spooky mansion? Or a Star Trek bridge simulator!

    I'll be pretty excited when one of these comes to my city... just as long as the RealDoll people have to use a different room than everyone else.

    1. Re:LARP? by LionKimbro · · Score: 2

      That'll have to be a pretty sophisticated VR system. It'd have to be one that taps into your nervous system, can make you feel like you're actually exercising your muscles as you walk, and one that has a hell of a force feedback mechanism, so that you not only can't walk through walls, but can actually feel them with your hands.

      In case you missed it, check it out at: https://thevoid.com/ .

    2. Re:LARP? by Thruen · · Score: 3, Interesting

      AR > VR for LARPing. I've been raving about everything AR, specifically the Hololens, could mean for LARPing to my friends since I saw that promo video a year or two ago back, even more now with the recent E3 presentation. VR would be crap for actual LARPing, I wouldn't want to rely on my VR display while running through the woods, there's no way every obstacle would be represented in the simulation. However, an augmented reality lens that could make the NPCs look like monsters while we fight, add spell effects to packets, make foam swords look like metal...

      I like the idea of AR better than VR because VR's purpose is to separate you entirely from the reality around you. While VR could make for some really cool video games, they'll still just be video games. The setup in the video appears to be an attempt to combine the two, and it does look like a bunch of fun, but what they're doing is only possible after designing a 3D environment that accurately represents the physical room their players will walk around in, and then it's filled only with virtual enemies. Don't get me wrong, The Void just made it onto my to-do list, it might even be one of my vacation stops next year if they open when they plan to and Utah doesn't turn me off too much. But I'll be much more excited when the games have you working with/against other players, and even more when I can spend whole weekends defending Shadowfane from beasts.