Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. KEVIN EIGELBACH | WCPO CONTRIBUTOR
WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to fall from a six-story building and survive, Sphere Virtual Reality Arcade in West Chester Township is the place for you.
Richie’s Plank Experience, one of the 25 games currently offered at the Liberty Center arcade, simulates you standing on a plank, more than 500 feet above the street. If you fall off, it hits you in the gut as if you were really falling.
The simulation that host Rob Buchheit shows to new players takes them on a trip to the bottom of the ocean, where they walk on the deck of a sunken ship and scatter schools of fish.
Suddenly, a huge blue whale swims up to investigate, close enough to touch, it seems. Some players actually do reach out and end up touching the wall of the arcade, Buchheit said.
As you stare into the whale’s eye, you understand that it’s all an image and not real. But it’s real enough to also make you feel a little scared — because, man, that whale is big, and you are in his house.
The illusion lasts only so long as you keep the VR headset secured on your head over your eyes.
Some patrons come into the arcade skeptical about virtual reality, but they leave convinced. “They don’t think it can be as good as people say, or that life-like and immersive,” Buchheit said. “But the graphics really get you there.”
Sphere is believed to be the first VR arcade in the Tri-State. It’s the third such arcade opened in Ohio by Columbus resident Jayson Paglow and his two silent partners.
The first arcade, which opened in November 2016 in Lima, recently moved to Toledo. Another arcade opened in Columbus in August, as did the West Chester store.
Up to four people at a time can play on each of the West Chester store’s four HTC Vive virtual reality simulators. Patrons pay $29.99 for 30 minutes of play, or $39.99 for 60 minutes.
Most patrons are young adults and families, Buchheit said. Renting all four stations for birthday parties has also proven popular.
The arcades are basically breaking even financially, Paglow said. He declined to disclose revenue figures. He also declined to say how much has been invested in the business so far.
There are only a few hundred VR arcades in the United States, Buchheit said, but they are booming in places like China and South Korea. San Francisco-based Grand View Research Inc. expects the U.S. market for VR games to reach $45 billion by 2025.
Sphere is the third startup Paglow has co-founded. His first, which he described as a sort of Kickstarter before Kickstarter, didn’t get past the proof-of-concept phase. The second, a digital ad company, was outdone by a larger company, he said.
He seems to be having better success with Sphere. He’s already looking at other cities to put arcades in, he said, and has been contacted by people who want him to sell them franchises.
The machines cost about $2,000 apiece, which is too expensive for most people to have in their own homes. “Until the hardware comes down, people will depend on places like this,” Buchheit said.
Source: WCPO