What can you do with virtual reality when you have complete control of the physical space around the player? How real can virtual reality become?Thats the core concept behind The Void.
They take over retail spaces in places like Downtown Disney and shopping malls around the country and turn them into virtual reality playgrounds, Theyve got VR experiences based on properties like Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and Wreck-It Ralph; while these big names tend to be the main attractions, theyre dabbling with creating their own original properties, too.By building both the game environment and the real-world rooms in which players wander, The Void can make the physical and virtual align.
If you see a bench in your VR headset, theres a bench there in the real world for you to sit on; if you see a lever on the wall in front of you, you can reach out and physically pull it.
Land on a lava planet and heat lamps warm your skin; screw up a puzzle, and youll feel a puff of mist letting you know to try something else.At $30-$35 per person for what works out to be a roughly thirty-minute experience (about ten of which is watching a scene-setting video and getting your group into VR suits), its pretty pricey.
But its also some of the most mind-bending VR Ive ever seen.The Void reportedly raised about $20 million earlier this yearand is in the middle of a massive expansion.
Its more than doubling its number of locations, opening 25 new spots in a partnership with the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield chain of malls.I sat down to chat with The Voids co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Curtis Hickman, to hear how they got started, how his background (in stage magic!) comes into play here, how they came to work with massive properties like Ghostbusters and Star Wars, and where he thinks VR is going from here.Greg Kumparak: Tell me a bit about yourself.
Howd you get your start? Howd you get into making VR experiences?