e-book Your Guide to Buying a Successful VR Attraction for Your Entertainment Venue expert opinions of tech innovators EBOOK : EDUCATIONAL 2021 introduction There is a lot of talk regarding Location-Based Virtual Reality whether it’s a solid attraction or a passing trend. People wonder if it’s profitable, easy to operate, and so on. In this e-book, you will learn what to look for in a VR System for guaranteed success! Check out the most important things to consider if you want to add a VR Attraction to your entertainment venue! This subject is tackled based on 3 perspectives, as they are all linked together, and they contribute to a successful or a failed investment. The Technology Part - the hardware and everything it entails, the Content Part – namely VR games, and the Management Part - the dos and don’ts of opera- ting a VR System at your location - these are all important elements that will contribute to the success of your investment! WE ARE #innovators INOVATE the footprint 19-20 CONTROLLERS AND 21 GADGETS in vr content is vr games 23 king VR CONTENT CONTENT e-book introduction 02-03 inowize.com Chapter 1 05-21 27 making VR A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT vr technology-Choosing the Right VR Attraction for Your Center chapter 2 22-25 Virtual Reality Games 32-33 Quality Content is Vital let’s talk chapter 3 26-29 about vr VR Management Making VR a Profitable Investment vr technology Types of VR Technologies There are a lot of different types of VR attractions out there that are used in entertainment centers. Broadly speaking, there are 4 types: tethered, wireless, simulators, and large-scale free-roam systems. 01 02 03 04 Tethered VR Wireless VR VR Simulators Large-scale System System (Free-Roam) Free-Roam System Tethered vs. Free-Roam find out the advantages and disadvantages of each type of vr system 5 Choosing the Right VR Attraction for Your Center 6 01 Tethered VR VR SYSTEM 7 System TETHERED VR SYSTEM chapter 01 Tethered VR System In a tethered system, a powerful and high-quality VR Headset is connected through a cable to computers that run the VR games. It’s quite simple, each headset is connected via a wire to a computer. The most used VR headsets for this setup are HTC Vive Pro Headsets, Valve Index, and others. As computers are concerned, they are VR-ready computers, this means they are high-end PCs, built using the latest parts, to assure a sturdy operation without tech failures. The most used VR headsets for this setup are HTC Vive Pro Headsets. Advantages of a Tethered VR System and why is it the most used Location-Based VR The content is way better (as the tethered VR gives more graphical de- 01 tails as it’s running the game from the high-end computer). They are very reliable, the physical connection, the wire link between the headset and the computer give you a steady stream of data. You won’t 02 have any interruptions during the games. The VR-ready computers allow you to play complex VR games with really high-quality graphics, and, as you’ll see further on, content is king in 03 VR. 8 TETHERED VR SYSTEM chapter 01 Advantages of a Tethered VR System and why is it the most used Location-Based VR Headsets like the HTC Vive Pro have a proven track record in commercial 04 use. They are sturdy, dependable and they don’t break easily. Safety. Tethered VR systems pin the user in a certain spot. They can move to a certain extent, but they don’t go running off or bumping into 05 other guests. Operational flow. These kinds of systems are very commercial friend- ly and very practical. The guests go into the arena, an operator helps them with the headsets, an easy task, and they are ready to go. When 06 they’re done, wipe the headsets with an antibacterial tissue, and the next group can play. Many wireless solutions take longer to equip compared to the tethered systems. Again, when you have a lot of customers, that time you lose preparing everyone for the upcoming game will reflect on your earnings. 9 TETHERED VR SYSTEM chapter 01 disAdvantages of a Tethered VR System The wire used to connect the headset to the computer might get dis- connected or broken sometimes and it’s important to find a vendor 01 that helps you with spares and parts fast with zero hustle. Limited movement inside the VR environment because users are pinned in one spot. However, in Arkadia VR Arena games, players can teleport inside the VR environment using special platforms, or they constantly 02 respawn in different locations in the map of the game. We found a lot of ways to deal with the mobility issue and still retain the immersion factor. 10 02 Wireless VR free-roam VR SYSTEM 11System Wireless VR System (Free-Roam) chapter 01 Wireless VR System A Free-Roam VR option doesn’t use any sort of wires, hence making it easier for people to move around in the dedicated space. These systems use either a standaloneheadset (it’s similar to the parts of a mobile phone assembled inside the headset) - like the Oculus Quest, or a VR backpack computer, or another type of mobile technology. Advantages of a Free-Roam VR system 01 Free of movement. The gameplay might bring more complexity in some situa- tions, as it is tailored for space and has certain immersive 02 sensations. r 03 Customers have a larger space to move around in. 12 Wireless VR System (Free-Roam) chapter 01 disAdvantages of a Free-Roam VR System If the connection fails, even for a short while, you’ll either experience 01 glitches inside the game, or your game will stop altogether. Battery life. All mobile or wireless devices function using batteries and they all have a life-span of about 2-3 hours, but take around 3-4 hours 02 to fully recharge. VR games. Using mobile or wireless technologies will not allow you to 03 run complex or high-quality graphics games. Concerns regarding the safety of guests. For multiplayer games, you have a huge chance of people bumping into each other, or losing their 04 balance and falling, hurting themselves, or damaging the equipment. 13 what’s better? chapter 01 what’s better? Tethered or Free-Roam? Depending on what your requirements are for a Virtual Reality System, you have to analyze if the technology is reliable as well as the games you’re offering. If you want to create a great experience for your guests, one they cannot get at home, then a tethered option is what you should be aiming for. However, if you are looking for more complex gameplay, maybe fre- e-roam would be a fit. 14 03 VR Simulators VR SYSTEM 15 VR Simulators chapter 01 VR Simulators Virtual Reality Simulators are usually experiences designed for 1 or 2 people. This sort of solution can bring a lot of immersion as they use wind, moving platforms, and other ele- ments. VR simulators don’t take a big amount of space and maintain the ease of useand high tech performance that we see in VR Arenas, as most of them are using premium VR Equipment. Advantages of a VR Simulator They take a small amount of space and they can fit in most 01 entertainment centers as an arcade game. Most of the available VR Simulators out there maintain a high stan- 02 dard in terms of graphics quality Easy to install, basically you just move it from a container into your 03 center. 16 VR Simulators chapter 01 disAdvantages of a VR Simulator Only 2 people can enjoy the experience at a time, which can affect 01 your throughput. If the game is bad the guests can easily get motion sickness and 02 never play it again. The gameplay can get boring pretty fast for your guests (they only 03 sit in one place, enjoying the VR experience). 17 large scale free roam system chapter 01 When it comes to these types of attractions, they use a different type of wireless technology, but take a lot of space, they cost a lot of money, and they require a location with really huge traffic to make them profitable. 04 LargeYOUR IMAGE scale IS HERE free-roam systems VR SYSTEM 18 The issue Most of the well-known systems out there have about the same footprint for a 4-player system (especially tethered solutions). There isn’t a standard here but, you don’t want the space to be too small and have people bumping into each other. At the same time, you also don’t want to use a lot of unnecessary space. The Footprint With simulators, you are looking at a smaller footprint (it depends a lot on the set-up but they usually talk 2/3 of the space an Arena would) while the Free Roam solutions are usually taking a lot more space, around double/triple the space of an Arena or sometimes even more. 19 Our recommendation We tested a lot with the required space and found a solution that works for us. For examp- le, the Arkadia 4-Player System is about 14.8 ft x 14.8 ft x 8.7 ft (4.5 m x 4.5 m x 2.6m), and our 6-Player system is about 14.8 ft x 20 ft x 8.7 ft (4.5 m x 6 m x 2.6 m).