With the sweet embrace of an AMC Entertainment and Nickelodeon partnership and huge Hollywood names like Steven Spielberg and Hans Zimmer attached to it, Los Angeles’ own Dreamscape Immersive is getting a lot of local support for a relatively new location-based VR company.
What Is Location-Based VR?
Location-based VR experiences like that of Dreamscape Immersive, take place in a large room, booth, or warehouse. When a participant enters the experience with a headset on there will be an immersive VR world surrounding them. As the story or experience unfolds, sensory elements or checkpoints also get implemented.
We don’t know the exact products, but we do know that participants will be guided safely around a room and will very likely interact with strategically placed VR-compatible objects, haptic textures, surround sound (we see you, Hans Zimmer), other participants, and even heating or cooling elements if the tech and prop department wants to roll out the red carpet treatment. Basically, the world around you will change in VR but your brain will be tricked into believing you’re really crossing a rickety bridge or being jet-propelled with wind flying through your hair.
Big Name Investments
In September 2017 AMC Entertainment announced that they were going to roll out VR into movie theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2018. Location-based VR experiences are becoming so popular among top-tier studios that Nickelodeon, 21st Century Fox, and Warner Bros. are each Series B investors of Dreamscape Immersive.
This could mean that some very famous cartoons, television shows, or movies could see a VR cameo or an entire experience all to themselves. Imagine watching a Spielberg created VR flick — the effects, the storyline, the action scenes!
In a Verge article, Dreamscape Co-Chairman Kevin Wall stated, “Today, audiences can see movies in theaters in three formats: 2D, 3D, and IMAX. Dreamscape establishes the Fourth Platform – VR. Now, audiences will have the ability to purchase a ticket, step inside of the story and experience it personally in a way never before imagined.”
This is huge. Not only will that bring cinema quality VR to the masses, it will likely drive cinema ticket sales, get butts in the seats, but it will also get viewers more motivated to buy VR gear for their own home use.
VR Arena And Warehouse Gaming Exists Worldwide
Dreamscape Immersive is expected to make Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles their main VR experience center in 2018 and are expecting 6 others across the world. But, there are other already existing VR companies who have successfully used large-scale experiences and games with their customers.
IMAX VR is equipped with booths/pods to almost warehouse sized VR gaming experiences in Los Angeles, New York, China, The UK, and Canada. Participants play games like The Unspoken, Justice League and Sprint Vector to get their heart racing and get immersed in their famous IMAX surround sound and high quality 360 viewing.
We recently reported that Zero Latency, an Australian-based roaming VR game company, had success in bringing virtual reality to over 152,000 players from over 12 locations worldwide. Participants around the world play immersive VR games like Outbreak Origins, Zombie Survival and Zombie Outbreak as they walk around a warehouse and use a tetherless headset and gun to get their fun on.
eSports Arena Popularity Translates To Franchises
eSports is seeing an influx of interest from gamers and non-gamers alike. VR games like Sprint Vector, The Unspoken, and Echo Arena are getting so popular that events and legit competitions are being held among players, VR arcades, and in real arenas.
Big name studios who want to diversify their franchise reach will want to consider branching out into VR gaming and making a competition out of their experiences. Wouldn’t it be cool to see two or more people square off in combat while you’re waiting in line to do the same, or as you’re waiting to watch a movie the experience was based on?
VR Innovation Potential
Getting film and TV studio executives interested in a medium like VR is a huge crossover in the entertainment industry. Dreamscape Immersive is spearheading film and television studio participation with their plans to roll out VR experience booths and warehouses across the United States and beyond. We’re excited to see what games, experiences, and tech innovations will come out of these new industry partnerships.