An Immersive Gamebox could be the Next Evolution of Gaming
Photo via Immersive Gamebox
Will Dean, the co-founder of Tough Mudder, has come up with a new teamwork-based game suite that will leave you entertained, but will also leave clean and dry (hopefully!).
The Immersive Gamebox, rolled out in 2019 is currently available in the UK and about 20 US Markets. In the next couple of years, look for locations in Germany, the UAE, Ireland and Canada.
When speaking of his second startup, Dean says he wanted to stay with the group play theme, but in the tech space. The idea was to take the dynamics of a video game, which is typically about the individual versus the environment, and turn it into something that’s all about team bonding and cooperation.
With inspiration taken from the original Nintendo Wii, Dean’s new smart game room would use projection, motion tracking, and laser-based radar, or LIDAR. The first prototype, made in 2018, was a version of Pong where two players moved around the room acting as paddles to hit the ball.
The Gameboxes themselves take only about a day to assemble from what’s described as “essentially an Ikea kit,” and because the sides are walls and not screens they can withstand a more vigorous level of play. Some cities, such as Chicago, have as many as 11 game rooms in the same location.
The unit itself is comprised of a projector that is mounted in the ceiling and casts images onto white walls inside the gamebox. Cameras in the corners pick up movement from sensors installed on the visors worn by each player.
An hour of gameplay costs roughly $30-$35, depending on the location. At the start of a session, two to six players will check in on an iPad, sign safety waivers, and enter the cube. Games are set up and run by an employee outside of the cube using a web interface or iPad, which has the added benefit of allowing games to be run and monitored from an offsite location.
Once inside the Gamebox, each player dons a visor of a different color that corresponds to their onscreen avatar. Movements such as jumping on a specific spot or touching a spot on the wall are interpreted by the cameras as interactive inputs like pressing a button on a controller.
Dean’s ultimate goal is to see the Immersive Gamebox become not just a diversion for people waiting to see a movie or at the mall, but a huge entertainment platform with tie-ins to TV shows, movie releases, and other pop culture events. He wants people to share their gaming experiences, and look forward to trying out new titles and perfecting favorites.
The Immersive Gamebox is also making inroads to creating educational content and exploring other possible uses for this technology, like job training.
Dean says slowing down is not part of the plan. In five years, he says, “we should have a thousand sites; we should be in gyms, we should be in airports, we should be on cruise ships, we should be in WeWorks.”
From Wired.com
