With New Invention, Virtual Reality’s Potential for Magic Gets Real -
LINDON, Utah — In an ordinary office complex here, past stacked cartons of Mountain Dew and a throng of hoodie-wearing employees, sits a prototype for an attraction
that Hollywood thinks will become the next entertainment craze — an offering that could mint money for its developers, throw a lifeline to struggling shopping malls and, at long last, jump-start sales of virtual reality gear.
It’s social; groups of up to four can participate at once and see avatars of one another in the V. R.
And roaming through a large set — it’s all wireless, so participants are not tethered to a cord, as with most other V. R.
experiences — seems to solve the nausea problem.
“I have seen a lot of great V. R.
experiences, and nothing comes close to what the Void is doing,” said Cliff Plumer, a former Lucasfilm technologist
and manager who joined the virtual reality start-up the Void as its chief executive on Feb. 9.
The Void, which has refined the concept of mapping a virtual world over a physical set, believes
they will — in fact, a first location near Times Square is already making money.
“It’s very repeatable, just like a film, and it’s an extraordinarily visceral
and effective way to tell a story,” said Ivan Reitman, who directed the original “Ghostbusters” and its sequel, “Ghostbusters II.”
The Void’s potential may have as much to do with the solutions it offers to other businesses as it does with entertainment.
LINDON, Utah — In an ordinary office complex here, past stacked cartons of Mountain Dew and a throng of hoodie-wearing employees, sits a prototype for an attraction
that Hollywood thinks will become the next entertainment craze — an offering that could mint money for its developers, throw a lifeline to struggling shopping malls and, at long last, jump-start sales of virtual reality gear.
It’s social; groups of up to four can participate at once and see avatars of one another in the V. R.
And roaming through a large set — it’s all wireless, so participants are not tethered to a cord, as with most other V. R.
experiences — seems to solve the nausea problem.
“I have seen a lot of great V. R.
experiences, and nothing comes close to what the Void is doing,” said Cliff Plumer, a former Lucasfilm technologist
and manager who joined the virtual reality start-up the Void as its chief executive on Feb. 9.
The Void, which has refined the concept of mapping a virtual world over a physical set, believes
they will — in fact, a first location near Times Square is already making money.
“It’s very repeatable, just like a film, and it’s an extraordinarily visceral
and effective way to tell a story,” said Ivan Reitman, who directed the original “Ghostbusters” and its sequel, “Ghostbusters II.”
The Void’s potential may have as much to do with the solutions it offers to other businesses as it does with entertainment.
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