Virtual Reality Centres

[iwerks]

Anyone catch the segment on Good Game about 'Zero Latency', virtual reality centre in Melbourne?  There's also an international franchise called 'The Void' that looks pretty similar. It seems ironic that we've just lost our first generation of virtual reality parks and then this comes along.  Looks exciting, has anyone tried it?

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/

https://www.zerolatencyvr.com/

[pushbutton]

Looks like there could be absolutely massive potential in this. 

Limited only by imagination!

[iwerks]

Got to experience the Occulus Rift at the Singapore Science Centre, today. It's amazing how how real it seems. Here's a virtual reality theme park chain from the US.

 

 

[iwerks]

This story is getting a bit of a run on the BBC news channel at the moment.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33988909

[jjuttp]

If you want to see VR that will really blow you away, look into StarVR. 210 degree field of view compared to the 100 presented by Oculus, Samsung/Oculus, HTC, Valve, and Sony.

[pushbutton]

Movie World or Dreamworld would be very wise to open a centre of that type within their park before the other does!

It would suit either, but especially Dreamworld!

[iwerks]

2 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Movie World or Dreamworld would be very wise to open a centre of that type within their park before the other does!

It would suit either, but especially Dreamworld!

Dreamworld could use VR in their laser tag or on an old rollercoaster to give it a new theme.

[jjuttp]

The rollercoaster part seems......... off.  

 

The footage i've seen so far is like a 90's educational video and makes LPM's Holodeck look HD. The VRC's have the right idea, but the parks don't quite seem to. Plus nothing beats good old physical theming. A Mockrock boulder will always look better than a CGI one made by the work experience kid at Dreamworld. Plus there's also the factor of how lazy our parks are/can be when i comes to updating things or fixing them.(i.e. dead pixels or an out of sync video).

[iwerks]

Looks like Alton Towers is going the VR route on one of their coasters.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10153704168771201&id=21765316200

[Santa07]

It would be an interesting concept to use VR on Eureka. That way they wouldn't even have to spend money making the interior look pretty.

It could also be used to spruce up the Motocoaster, make it feel like you really are on a proper motorbike instead of a knee-crushing plastic replica of one that winds around a boring yellow track in the middle of the bush.

[iwerks]

Nice article from earlier on in the year.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/personal-technology/vr-theme-parks-for-australia/news-story/a0070d00e2da0ec9bb5b634430233c29

Zero Latency recently upgraded their whole system. I narrowly missed out on getting to test it on my last trip to Melbourne. They're now open mid week after only having sessions on Fridays and the weekends.

I think VR will be everywhere by Xmas. Be prepared to have your minds blown.

[iwerks]

^Zero Latency is now open in Brisbane.

Tonight, I took the opportunity to visit Perth’s first multiplayer VR gaming centre - Optimus Gaming. It’s in Balcatta, less than a minute off the Freeway. It cost $50 per person for an hour. You can play with up to 8 people per game. 

None of us had done Virtual Gaming before, but we had experienced VR at the Singapore Science Centre. It didn’t take too long to go through some basic tutorials.

We had a go at Smashbox Arena and  Skyfront, which were excellent. Smashbox was a multiplayer team game similar to a hyped up version of dodge ball. Skyfront is a shooter where you can fly through various different terrain - like Ancient Egypt - and kill your friends. 

I got my butt kicked several times, but I’m looking forward to going back. It didn’t make me motion sick, which was a bonus, but there were a couple of times you felt like you were about to fall over. It’s definitely an experience I’d recommend if you can’t afford your own VR console.