Try out state-of-the-art virtual reality in London (and take your clients, too)

I wrote this in December 2017 for colleagues in London. The Void also has locations in Florida, running the same experience, and in New York, running a Ghostbusters one, which I haven’t tried. Worth a look if you haven’t done it yet.

It’s still the case that most people who have tried virtual reality (VR) at all have done so on phones, sitting down, and in a solo experience. All of that is set to change dramatically over the next 24 months. In January and February you can try a state-of-the-art VR experience by US company The Void at the Westfield mall in West London.

Try it: it will give you a great sense of the promise of VR and help you talk from experience about it to clients. In fact, you might like to take clients along.

Below is a short briefing about it to help you plan.

What is this?

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire — a “hyper reality” experience by The Void and ILMxLAB (an immersive experiences division of Industrial Light and Magic, Lucasfilm’s effects company).

It’s a virtual reality experience which showcases some important features of VR that most people have yet to try:

• It’s social. You do it in groups of four, and the virtual world has you and the other people in the group in it.
• It’s active. You don’t sit or stand in one spot; you walk around through the experience.
• It’s tactile. As you walk around you can feel the walls, feel weapons in your hand, feel the environment, and feel the impacts of weapons on your body.

Isn’t it a bit niche?

Think of going to one of these experiences as the equivalent of a visit to a cinema (or IMAX). It will always be possible to make bigger, bolder experiences in dedicated spaces. However, the technology to make immersive experiences at home and on the go that are social, active and tactile is advancing rapidly.

(We have a good story about the future of immersive experiences — VR, AR and ambient — that plays well with clients; please ask if you’re interested)

What does it involve?

• Book in advance here (£32.50/person). It’s best to have a group of four people because then you’ll all be together: if you have fewer (especially one or two) you may find yourself with strangers.
• Particularly if you’re inviting clients, consider inviting them with children aged 10 or over. Here is a trailer, if you need a convincer. If you’d like someone to come along with you (and/or client) to talk about immersive experiences, let me know.
• Turn up at Westfield London, which is easy to park at and right by the Central Line station at Shepherd’s Bush. Aim for 15 minutes before your allotted time.
• Queue up to convert your online booking into ticket, then each of your party completes a waiver on a tablet, then you wait to be admitted. There is a cloakroom.
• Once admitted, you watch a briefing film to get you in the mood, then you get suited up: there is a VR helmet and a tactile vest.
• Then you get led into the experience itself (see “What happens in the experience (spoilers)?” below)
• Afterwards you can collect your picture (£10) if you like.

• Total time there will be 30–40 minutes, depending on queues. Before or after, there are lots of places to eat or get a coffee in the mall.

What happens in the experience (spoilers)?

You don’t have to read this bit. However, if you want to know what’s coming and what to look out for:

• The rig you wear will feel quite tight. This is normal: it helps you bear the weight and makes the tactile transducers work better.
• When you put your visor down you’ll find that you can clearly hear your party — each helmet has a microphone.
• You’ll then orient yourselves. First novel experience: your colleagues will appear around you, dressed — like you — in stormtrooper armour. You’ll be able to see your armoured arms and hands in front of your face. (This is done with a camera).
• If you try dancing around a bit you’ll notice that characters’ legs do not follow their movements properly. This is because their position is inferred, not tracked. It doesn’t impact the experience.
• As the story starts you’ll meet K-2SO, the tall Imperial droid from Rogue One, who guides you through the experience.

The tall one is K-2SO. Image from Rogue One. Copyright ©Lucasfilm Ltd., probably.

• Remember to look up. You start in the cargo compartment of your stolen shuttle, which is low down. The bridge is above you. Notice how you don’t feel sick, which many people do with VR. It turns out when you really move around (and the kit is good quality and fast) you are much less likely to feel sick than when you see motion but can’t feel it.
• Your shuttle will land on the planet Mustafar, which has a largely molten surface. You’ll be told to leave the ship and walk across a narrow bridge into the base. The Bridge isn’t really narrow, but the sense of height is quite powerful. You’ll also feel the heat from the lava (they blow hot air at you).
• In the base, you’ll try to be nonchalant (you are dressed as stormtroopers after all), but you’ll quickly be discovered and chased. You’ll find yourself in a room with a rack of guns. Pick one up — you’ll feel it. This is one of the most impressive bits: the guns in the virtual world map to physical props, which are much simpler — but it feels completely natural to reach out, pick one up and start firing.
• You’ll then have lots of opportunity to shoot at things — enemy stormtroopers, creatures from the lava, and a special guest at the end. When you get shot you’ll feel the impact through your suit. Inevitably, one of your group will start shooting you. It doesn’t matter; nobody dies.
• Remember to keep looking around. The audio and the tactile feedback is directional, which gives you a clue, but the biggest limitation of the helmets is a narrow field of view. Therefore things that you might expect to see our out of the corner of your eye in real life you can easily miss. If your colleagues haven’t noticed (you can see them looking the wrong way), tell them to turn round/look up etc. The narrative explanation for the narrow field of view is that you’re wearing a stormtrooper helmet, of course.
• When you emerge, you’ll get photographed against a green screen (see example above) for merch. I‘m surprised they don’t offer to sell you a video of your journey. I’m sure that will come.