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IMAX Embraces Virtual Reality, To Open Six VR Theaters This Year (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the virtual-reality-is-the-future? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: IMAX is getting into the virtual reality business. Tthe company has announced that it is teaming up with Google to build cinema-quality virtual reality video cameras. It is also planning to launch virtual reality "locations." The cinemas will be opened in shopping malls, much like traditional movie theatres. There are six reportedly planned for this year, including in Los Angeles and China. From the Verge report: IMAX chief executive Richard Gelfond told The WSJ that he imagined that the VR content would be tied to existing movie franchises, that they would last around 10 minutes and cost between $7 and $10. The idea, suggests Gelfond, is to create a VR experience that's better than what you can get at home -- the same way that a movie theater is better than your living room TV.

6 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by liqu1d · · Score: 4, Funny

    Up to a dollar per minute. Shall I lube up now?

    1. Re:Wow by charronia · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Might be interesting for people who want try out a VR experience once or twice without dropping a fortune on gear.

    2. Re: Wow by liqu1d · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I did consider that but reading the quote seems to suggest these won't be your everyday VR devices. Besides why pay to test VR when you could walk into a computer shop who'd let you test them for free in the hope of generating a sale.

  2. Oh, I've been waiting for this! by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I can go stagger around and throw up in front of strangers, rather than in the privacy of my home!

    Oh, wait, there are already places for me to do that. They're called "bars".

    1. Re:Oh, I've been waiting for this! by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Room-scale VR does not cause any motion sickness. It's just seated VR that's a problem to some of us, because our inner-ears tell us that we're sitting still, but the world is moving around us.

      I have a Vive, and have experienced zero sickness while playing room-scale. It's just fast-moving sit-down games like Project Cars that cause a problem.

      There's a lot of potential to group room-scale VR in very large rooms. You can even add tracked props to allow touch.

    2. Re:Oh, I've been waiting for this! by HornWumpus · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's all down to content.

      Of course the headset can make you sick standing up. It can also make you fall on your ass. If it doesn't, it's because the content, more or less, keeps up pointed up.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'