I had a chance to visit in April, 2018 and loved my overall experience.
It was like Ghost In The Shell themed VR laser tag.
Japan. It’s been on my list of place to visit for years. Decades at this point. I finally got to this Spring. On this trip, I got to experience a Live Events tech space that I’ve only previously seen and worked with in the context of pop up shop style one offs for concerts, sports tournaments.
The Concept
If you’re in the US and you’ve heard of The Void. Perhaps, you’ve been there. I’m about to go check that out next week. VR Zone Shinjuku is a similar VR theme park. I got to play a 3 on 3 game of VR laser tag as a Ghost In The Shel themed operative whose mission is to take out “the terrorists” (the opposing team of 3 in our case).
The Tech
The staff at VR Zone Shinjuku were naturally fairly tightlipped about specifics of how everything works behind the scenes. No photos were allowed inside, past the entrance.
However, they headset was HTC Vive, coupled with what looked like custom VR tracker shin guards, a gauntlet and body sensor belt that allowed for full range of motion wireless tracking. The ceiling had a ton of what looked like infrared sensors, pointed in every possible direction.
Each player had an MSI VR ONE Backpack PC strapped to their back.
The Vive headset had custom wireless trackers mounted on top of it as well.
The Staff
These guys were very professional and on top of their game. I was very impressed. The team was highly knowledgeable on the complex gear up procedure and it seemed like everyone spoke at least 3 languages (Japanese, Mandarin and English). I deal with Brand Ambassadors at live events on a regular basis – the VR Zone Shinjuku staff were in my top 3 crews of all time.
timshaya 