The future is now, old man.
By Nicole Buckler
The future of media is insane. Take for example, virtual reality. When the first commercially-available headsets hit the market, what’s the first thing we all did? We tried them with VR porn, because we are all randy animals at heart. And that was cool for five minutes. But now, there’s even better stuff we can do with VR. Much, much better stuff.
VR play rooms, like an early kind of holodeck, are being built all over the world. Australia and Japan have had wild success with theirs, and now some entrepreneurs in the USA have been licensed to open two new locations in America. We can only pray to one of the current 25,000 deities that someone will bring it to Ireland and fast. We have a lot of rainy days here, and this is the indoor hero that we need and deserve.
The VR arenas allow a group of friends to play together in a virtual world. And. IT. LOOKS. AWESOME.
The company licensed to open the U.S. locations, MindTrek VR, say the newly-opened arena has been hugely popular. And so far, as a new media experience, they seem to be killing it. This is a game that doesn’t feel like a game. The player’s mind believes it’s real, because the digital and real world are meshed seamlessly together. When the player moves, the game moves with them.
Within MindTrekVR’s free-roam gaming arenas, players can battle with zombies, robots and drones in Zombie Survival, or negotiate virtual mazes and digital netherworlds in Singularity and Engineerium.
The VR software that drives the game, called Zero Latency, is a patent-pending motion tracking system. They are a Melbourne-based tech company and a global leader in VR gaming. The software allows large groups of up to 16 people wearing portable virtual reality gear to interact and participate simultaneously in digital games in a wide-open space. The games are seamlessly controlled, enhanced and modified in real-time by on-site gaming engineers.
Brad Wurtz, David Rzepski, and David O’Connor are behind the U.S. version of MindTrek VR. The trio of entrepreneurs all come from a business and entertainment background. “Virtual reality at home can be isolating and sharing the experience with a group in our gaming arenas is a real game-changer,” O’Connor says. “MindTrek is a leader in transforming the virtual reality gaming landscape to make it a social experience.”
The entrepreneurs have previously invested in a variety of ventures, including SkyZone trampoline parks, bowling alleys, bars, and nightclubs, rum manufacturing and real estate. These guys are all about the bringing the fun. And I for one hope they bring it here.
Want to keep tabs on the company? You can follow them on Twitter.
