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Imax is Shutting Down Its VR Business, Closing Remaining Three VR Centers in Q1 (variety.com)
Imax is making its exit from virtual reality (VR) official: The company notified shareholders with a SEC filing this week that it will close down its remaining three VR centers, and write off "certain VR content investments." From a report: A company spokesperson confirmed the planned closures and shared the following statement with Variety: "With the launch of the IMAX VR centre pilot program our intention was to test a variety of different concepts and locations to determine which approaches work well. After a trial period with VR centres in multiplexes, we have decided to conclude the IMAX VR centre pilot program and close the remaining three locations in Q1 2019."
The company previously closed four of its seven VR centers, including most recently its sole European outpost in Manchester. Imax launched Imax VR in early 2017 with a flagship location adjacent to the Grove mall in Los Angeles. At the time, the expansion into VR was billed as an experiment, and a way for Imax to determine whether VR could be the next big thing for the company. [...] Imax also set up a $50 million VR content fund, and got CAA, China Media Capital, and the Raine Group to co-produce VR experiences. Further reading: The virtual reality dream is dying.
The company previously closed four of its seven VR centers, including most recently its sole European outpost in Manchester. Imax launched Imax VR in early 2017 with a flagship location adjacent to the Grove mall in Los Angeles. At the time, the expansion into VR was billed as an experiment, and a way for Imax to determine whether VR could be the next big thing for the company. [...] Imax also set up a $50 million VR content fund, and got CAA, China Media Capital, and the Raine Group to co-produce VR experiences. Further reading: The virtual reality dream is dying.
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IMAX just had itâ(TM)s tooth pulled: âoeIs this real life??â
VR is like 3DTV. Overhyped shit that no one wants.
1. Movie tickets are already expensive enough without VR
2. Most VR rentals are incredibly expensive as they are (recently went to a VRcade, they were charging nearly $40/hour)
3. Most people who want VR don't want it exclusively for movies
VR still has a bright future ahead, but it's not going to be in movie theaters.
They made the atmosphere like some sleazy douchebag club. How can you geek out on some nerdy VR games in a place like that? Even if it had had a "comic con" or "dnd convention" super geeky vibe, it would have been underwhelming since the graphics all looked like decade old pc games. The only "game" anyone was actually playing was the demo that basically taught you how to put on the helmet. It was that day that I realized VR was not going to be a thing.
I keep wondering if it is marketing that makes these cycles or some new guy gets eureka moment - "VR that is the future!"
What this was was yet another stab at the consistently failing Family Entertainment Center. Chuck E Cheese, Showbiz Pizza, Discovery Zone, GameWorks, etc, etc.
This isn't any argument about the merits of VR.
It's notoriously difficult to run an FEC as it requires a substantial investment and does not lend itself well to franchising. People just generally don't care to spend hundreds of dollars to get their family into a place for a few hours that isn't substantial. While Disneyland seems expensive, it's 16 hours of entertainment which works out to $10-20 per hour per person which isn't unreasonable compared to other family entertainment options.
Disney tried the small model FEC and failed as well. You just can't really do it on a small scale. You have to go big out of the gate.
The companies that would be more likely to succeed are the ones that have substantial IP to capitalize on and can keep the place afloat long enough to realize the full profit potential. You just can't half-butt it and that requires substantial cash flow.
The VOID seems to be doing pretty well over at Downtown Disney. It's a Star Wars themed social experience in VR in a prime location. It wouldn't surprise me if Disney eventually found a way to incorporate it directly into an experience in the Star Wars area of the park opening next summer.
In short, there are too many variables to say anything about VR in particular. The tech is vastly improving, opportunities do exist, but you have to get all the factors in place.
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I don't know what the Imax experiences were like, but they were probably standard VR headset kinds of things...
The only VR "experience" I've had that I thought was really magically immersive, was at the Void.
They just sue an oculus headset, but what really makes it work is it's totally contained on you - backpack to power and drive the headset, along with a series of walls around you that mesh nearly perfectly with the VR view you see. You see your own arms and hands, you see your partner next to you. You pick up a real weapon that you feel and hold in your hands with a real trigger, and you see it in VR just as you would if you were looking without the headset.
You go through some small rooms and hallways, all the while being able to see the world projected around you (sometimes as vast open areas). They also do some slight effects like wind or scents that you can feel and smell...
If you are ever anywhere that has one of these setups, you really should try it to see what VR can and should be.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
There's a few billion VR headsets being used right now.
Just not on this planet.
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is declining middle class. Dave & Buster's is doing great, but they're less like a traditional FEC and more like a kiddy Casino and even they have to pick their locations carefully and use nasty business practices to shift the risk of building their attractions onto the companies that build them (they don't actually buy most of those machines, they have some bizarre deal where the manufacturers pay them for floor space).
FECs need a vibrant middle class with a ton of disposable income, and, well, that ain't America in 2018...
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That "further reading" should probably be: "The VR dream is dying again". This is the third time at least.
I did the Star Wars experience which was great (something not known to me beforehand, is that K2-SO would be there - a nice bonus). Supposedly the new Wreck-It Ralph experience is even better, which would make sense as it's the latest version... so you might want to look for that if you are in one of the cities it's offered or are traveling.
I sadly never did Ghostbusters while it was in NYC, now it's only in the UAE which means I won't be seeing it anytime soon...
Like you say, the core of the Void was a shooter, but the whole thing was so well done even my wife loved it, who only ever plays puzzle games and wants nothing to do with FPS shooters. So that says a lot.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Disney tried the small model FEC and failed as well.
I'm not sure if maybe you mean what I am thinking of, but at Downtown Disney in Disneyworld they had a great FEC called DisneyQuest - I thought of it as pretty large, I thought they had a really good variety of very fun attractions, way more than any other FEC I've ever been to... yet even that shut down a few years ago. If even Disney can't make a large really well done FEC work right in the heart of DisneyWorld, who can I wonder?
The most fun there there by a wide margin was a pirate ride where a group of people stood on a shifting platform and fired cannons on all sides. It has visuals projected 360 degrees on the walls around you, so it too was a VR experience...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
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The current tech behind VR makes the experience one that most people are not interested in. The headsets are bulky and heavy. The lenses constantly fog up and get dirty. The wires, external cameras, extra processing units are all absurd.
If the industry wants people adopt and enjoy VR they need to refine the tech to a point where it's seamless. A VR headset needs to be no bulkier than a pair of sunglasses with earbuds attached and a small wire down to a walkman sized device or smartphone (if necessary, an external processor can still be allowed as long as it transmits the data wirelessly to the walkman/smartphone with a good range.) I'd lean more to a separate device rather than a smart phone because then it could have a standardized swappable battery. The controller interface should be intuitive and intelligent. A pair of one size fits all thin gloves that go back to a bracelet/watch band sized battery & transmitter perhaps.
Ideally, the VR sunglasses should not be completely opaque. It should be possible to pause the experience and have the shades "turn off" so you can see the environment around you without having to remove them. Cameras also need to be included on them along with a visual feedback system to warn you if something is in the way. Personally, I don't think it's entirely necessary for them to be completely enclosed either (although the option can be allowed for with clip on side shades or something). Not sure if having the peripheral vision exposed will make people more likely to get motion sick or less though. Granted, it might cut down on the immersion level a bit by being able to see things in the periphery, but, given that the current offerings are like peering through a pair of binoculars all the time, I think the experience would be far superior. And given that the future is probably more AR than VR, having the periphery open wouldn't hurt much and it'd significantly cut down on the fogging.
TLDR: Was this stage of VR tech and deployment necessary? Yeah, probably. It revealed new problems that need solving. Was it the stage that was going to bring VR mainstream? Hell, no.
Why is this even news. IMAX as a company isn't doing well, they bet their name on VR and charged entirely too much for the content. What else did they expect to happen?
Like the last story, I stand by VR is awsome. Comparing it to 3dtv is assinine trolling.
Really, VR can be an amazing experience. If you haven't tried it, you probably should. And yet, VR is not something that's comfortable to do for a long time (for most people), and it's also isolating and anti-social, since it hides your face and what you see from others. As well, it's not very practical to share a device that you wear very intimately on your head.
For some apps there is no substitute. But for other apps, it's overkill. VR will continue to have various niche applications and will never die, but until you can experience it as easily as putting on a pair of safety glasses, it will remain in its niches.
knows VR is trash
I am waiting for that technology. No need to wear the annoying goggles. ;)
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