Also, a new Hologate X platform promises to stream high-resolution, wireless VR worlds directly into headsets, has full-body tracking and offers 4D effects such as scent and wind, THX 5.1 surround sound, physical props and full-body haptics, according to Petersen.
Octopod is also transitioning from backpack PCs to Wi-Fi streaming. Charlier explains, “Our decision to move away from recommending a PC backpack was driven by supply issues, limitations of the PC backpack – weight, battery changing, design issues. It was Wi-Fi 6 and the ability to stream from a PC to standalone headsets, such as the HTC Vive Focus 3, that led us to make this change.” He adds, “Wi-Fi streaming has many advantages, including the fact that it requires no cables, making it easier to move around the dedicated space. It’s a small revolution in the industry that will allow studios to be more creative with fewer technical constraints.”
“The success of LBE’s VR games has to do with the technology,” says Charlier. “The sector has been able to grow rapidly thanks to the constant improvements offered by helmet, hardware and technology manufacturers, as well as independent studios specializing in this field. The technical and technological boundaries of the sector are rapidly being pushed back, allowing LBVR to offer players a more immersive experience. A few years ago, we were forced to use complex technology to enable free roaming, but now it is quite easy thanks to the tools, technologies and products offered by the manufacturers.”
Dreamscape Immersive uses VR headsets, full-body mapping and motion capture technology to place six to eight users at a time in full-roam virtual reality experiences with haptics and physical effects in a room-scale set. Current adventures include Alien Zoo, The Blu: Deep Rescue and Men in Black: First Assignment, appearing at Dreamscape locations in Los Angeles, Columbus, Paramus, Dubai, Riyadh and Geneva. Dreamscape seeks to engage its players with “emotional cinematic narrative in our content. Yes, there are elements of gameplay, but our audience’s reaction to our experience tends to be equally emotional and visceral,” says Dreamscape Immersive Chairman and Co-Founder Walter Parkes. Vertigo Games is a multi-platform VR entertainment company with offices in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Los Angeles. In 2021 it acquired SpringboardVR, the leading provider of VR venue management software and the largest content marketplace for LBE, according to the firm. Vertigo’s VR experiences are available in more than 700 sites through SpringboardVR, Vertigo’s HAZE VR distribution platform and other services. Its games include the perennial arcade hit Arizona Sunshine.
Zero Latency VR pioneered the first free-roam VR entertainment venue in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia, according to the firm, and now has 45 venues in 22 countries. Its latest platform, developed in partnership with HTC, streams to up to eight players simultaneously with 6E wireless technology and a HTC Vive Focus 3 headset, dispensing with a backpack computer, according to the firm. Zero Latency VR teamed with Ubisoft on the title Far Cry VR: Dive into Insanity, debuting the title in 2021 at the former’s 4,200-square-meter arena in Melbourne.
Other key LBVR firms include gaming company Survios (now creating an Aliens video game that will include a VR version), VRstudios (free-roaming, multiplayer LBVR systems and attractions), Tyffon (developer and management of location-based VR/ AR/MR content) and Neurogaming (a developer of VR content and technology). There are LBVR attractions at theme parks, including roller coaster add-ons, at indoor zones (such as Play DXB in Dubai Mall and the Nanchang VR Theme Park in China), and in the expansive VR Star Theme Park (formerly Oriental Science Fiction Valley), located in Guiyang in Guizhou province, China. The virtual reality theme park offers 35 VR attractions on 330 acres and cost an estimated $1.5 billion to construct.
“There is no denying that the pandemic had a negative effect on the amount of LBE and/or VR work that was happening over the past 10 years, but we are seeing a strong resurgence in both spaces and are very positive about the future of the two combining at scale again, so much so that we are actively recruiting in this space,” Framestore’s Woolley concludes.