London – This chromatic arcade and bar transforms virtual reality gaming into a social experience.
Opening this week, Otherworld brings fourteen VR pods to a disused railway arch in London's Haggerston. Visitors are invited to order drinks and Hawaiian poké street food before selecting a game to play, each categorised by the virtual world’s spring, summer, autumn or winter. The state-of-the-art VIVE headset experiences vary from climbing Mount Everest to undertaking tedious jobs, shooting zombies and living a day-in-the-life of a fisherman.
Created by secretive technology company The Dream Corporation, Otherworld uses heat, air, vibrations and scent effects to truly immerse visitors in its VR games. To make the destination a more social pursuit, those with friends can play against one another in different pods, while repeat customers can scan a QR code to return to their last point in the game.
As experience becomes a throwaway buzzword, consumers will seek out more challenging and immersive spaces that stimulate their senses. For more, read our report on Experience 2020.