What you need to know
- The VOID is a virtual reality experience provider.
- The VOID is partnering with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), a real estate company.
- This partnership will see The VOID expand to 25 new locations in the U.S. and Europe by 2022.
The VOID provides high-end virtual reality experiences, with different themes offering a wide range of possibilities. From walking around as Rebel soldiers disguised as Stormtroopers in Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, the award-winning experience by ILMxLAB and Lucasfilm, to helping out the Ghostbusters in Ghostbusters: Dimension, they have a lot on offer.
In a press release today, The VOID announced that they were entering a new partnership with URW. This partnership will enable The Void to expand quite a bit, with 25 new state-of-the-art locations coming across the U.S. and Europe by the year 2022. URW develops and operates various shopping centers around the world.
Four temporary pop-up locations will open in August and September, loaded with the experiences Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire and Ralph Breaks VR, by ILMxLAB created in collaboration with Walt Disney Animation Studios. They'll open in Westfield World Trade Center in New York, Westfield San Francisco Centre, Westfield Santa Anita in the Los Angeles metro area and Westfield UTC in San Diego. Permanent locations will be coming in the months afterward.
Christophe Cuvillier, Group CEO at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: "Over the past years, our industry has evolved dramatically. In a connected world, shopping is not enough anymore. Today, our customers expect to be entertained and brought together to share memorable, engaging sensory experiences. We are very happy to partner with The VOID in an industry-first, to bring cutting edge immersive experiences like these to our visitors".
The companies are also planning to expand and add new locations to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Chicago, Copenhagen, Oberhausen, San Jose, Stockholm and Vienna.
Oculus VR
The Oculus Quest is one of the most accessible forms of VR for anyone interesting in playing VR games. Titles like Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series and more are all available right now.
Affordable VR accessories you'll use every time
Energizer rechargeable batteries ($14 at Amazon)
Touch and WMR controllers require AA batteries to operate and speaking from experience, you're going to want to invest early in some rechargeable batteries to save money in the long run. This pack includes a wall charger that can handle four AAs at once, so you shouldn't have any downtime while waiting for a charge.
SecurOMax microfiber cloths ($7 at Amazon)
There's nothing worse than foggy or dirty VR lenses. They obstruct your ability to focus on the action in the headset properly, and frankly, they're just gross. These cloths from SecurOMax won't scratch your headset's lenses, and you'll be glad you have them on hand after a couple of sessions.
Hyperkin FreeStep ($22 at Amazon)
If you're tired of tripping over the cable running from your VR headset to your PC, you can get it up off the ground with this suspension system. It has six retractable carabiners that stick to a ceiling and provide the right amount of slack to keep the cable at an ideal length.
