Sony Pictures and The Void are looking for some brave souls this summer to help rid Madame Tussauds wax museum of all of its ghosts. You’ve always wanted to be a Ghostbuster right?
The Void, a company that specializes in what we can only describe as VR theme park installations, announced a partnership with Sony Pictures and Madame Tussauds New York on a Ghostbusters-themed project. The Ghostbusters: Dimensions experience will open this summer, making it the first installation of The Void VR theme park that will be open to the public.
The Void was announced last year, and its concept sounds too good to be true. The Void promises to put you in a whole new dimension, so to speak. The company combines real-world elements, such as physical walls, doors, objects, blowing air and even water mist, with virtual reality experiences. The Void maps the digital world around the physical space, allowing you to feel the virtual environment.
Virtual reality hardware is finally landing in consumer homes, but The Void skipped the off-the-shelf gear and went completely custom. The Void has its own engineering teams and product designers that have built the entire system from the ground up. The company produces its own VR hardware that it calls Rapture, but we don’t know much about the specs of the hardware yet.
We do know that The Void built its own custom VR HMD and a force feedback vest that also houses a gaming laptop. The company also said that Rapture includes custom tracking that lets you roam around a large environment without worrying about a tether.
The first permanent installation for The Void will be in Utah, but the company will be launching the Ghostbusters: Dimensions experience in New York first. In July, visitors of Madame Tussauds wax museum will be able to participate in a ghost hunt using The Void’s technology. The Void said the experience will feature authentic props, costumes and vehicles from the movie, and you’ll be taken through multiple scenes that were inspired by the franchise wherein you'll have to chase and capture paranormal creatures.
The Void said that construction has already begun on the Ghostbusters: Dimensions VR experience. The attraction opens two weeks ahead of the new Ghostbusters movie (such convenient timing) on July 1.
Update, May 9, 2:30pm PT: We reached out to The Void to get more information about the hardware being used for the Ghostbusters experience. It turns out the company's Rapture hardware is still under development and won't be ready for the launch in July. The experience will feature a combination of Oculus Rift DK2 HMDs and Leap Motion sensors. "We are currently going down multiple paths until the RAPTURE is ready to roll," said a company representative.
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