Immersion like nothing else, but what does it need to thrive?
For most people, location-based VR is probably going to be the easiest way to experience the immersion of virtual reality. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Pro are great, but they also have high barriers to entry: costly PCs and ample space in the home.
Location VR doesn’t have that; it just needs a space in the real world. Don’t look now, but it may have a hero in The Void’s Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire.
It seemingly has all the ingredients for success. A solid $30 price point, a huge brand in Star Wars and great locations in two of the most popular tourist destinations in America, Disneyland and Disney World. But is it the hero that location VR needs right now, and what does it signal for competitors like IMAX VR and Nomadic?
For the rebellion
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What exactly is Secrets of the Empire? Well, it takes place around the same period as Rogue One. You and a group of four friends are infiltrating an Imperial base on lava-covered Mustafa, the home of Darth Vader.
Immediately, The Void has the presentation edge on home-based VR. You get a short introductory video featuring Diego Luna’s character from Rogue One – your mission is to recover some super secret weapon – before being walked through putting on your equipment: a PC backpack, haptic vest and what feels like a slightly modified Oculus Rift. If you’ve tried to set up your home VR for a session, you know that it can sometimes be a chore. You’ve got to make sure the sensors are right, you’ve got to make sure everything is calibrated and set up – and only then can you have some fun. The Void was a complete breeze.
On my journey, I was synced up with two other people – strangers I had never met before. My team and I were shuttled into the starting room, where sardonic droid K-2SO told us the plan. For the first five or so minutes of the experience, me and my new friends were just kind of amazed at the latency of it all. We were dressed up as Stormtroopers (rebels in disguise), and whenever any of us moved, from our heads to our hands to our legs, everything was tracked perfectly.
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Source: Wareable