The moment many of us have been waiting for is finally here. We’ve read the stories about other cities getting theirs and now we have ours… VR1 - Idaho’s first VR arcade has opened in Eagle, ID! They’ve only been open for a few weeks, but the feedback so far has been very positive. During their second week of operation they had multiple repeat customers from opening week. While I was at VR1, one woman walked out and said, “Mind. Blown. That was so much fun!”
A customer trying his hand at the the VR hit "Knockout League."
So who is behind VR1? The owners are Brendan and Michelle Smythe who own Draftech, one of the Treasure Valley’s largest architecture and design firms. Brendan and Michelle are both passionate about technology and feel that it is the future of their business. When I asked Brendan what he meant by this he said that he feels within 3-5 years they’ll be using VR technology in the building design space. The possibilities are endless. Imagine being able to walk through your home design and feel how the space flows. Add the experience in with Google Earth to look out your window at your view. Wish that the big window was three feet to the left? No problem, request that change before the house is framed out and you could save yourself thousands of dollars in change orders. It’s a win-win for everyone. Brendan himself has already done a few walkthroughs in VR, but in trying to adopt the technology in their business they face a similar challenge that many in the VR space do - finding the required talent. They are currently looking for a Unity Developer to help translate their designs into full VR experiences. They feel strongly that adopting this technology in their business could really put the Treasure Valley on the map in the architecture space.
Brendan J setting up the headset wrangler for a customer.
But back to VR1. Michelle and Brendan’s son Brendan J is actually the one that brought the idea of a VR arcade to them about nine months ago. They thought it was a great idea and it has been full steam ahead since then. Opening a VR arcade hasn’t been without it’s challenges. They have five 10X10 cages that use the HTC Vive, and ensuring there wasn’t interference between each one was something they had to troubleshoot. An interesting obstacle they faced which we’ve all dealt with was dealing with the headset cord. Making sure people didn’t trip on the headset cord and take themselves out of the experience was critical. Brendan’s inspiration for a solution came one day while looking at a retractable dog leash. They built a cool wrangler system that uses two leashes attached to the ceiling. It’s genius and has just the right amount of pull and retraction. They sell the set-up on their website. Brendan J also built a custom interface to manage users time in VR and a custom onboarding experience. Users are able to select which route they take: beginner, intermediate or advanced. They have over twenty games users can choose from.
The goal in opening up VR1 was to bring VR to the public and make it fun. After touring their facility and seeing the reaction of several customers we can confirm they are definitely doing that! They hope that if this facility is successful they’ll be able to open additional locations, possibly even one with ten cages. If you have the chance, definitely pay them a visit, you won’t be disappointed.
We’re also thrilled to welcome VR1 to the IVRC community. Brendan and Michelle are excited to get involved and have donated four (1) hour tickets to VR1 as prizes for the upcoming IVRC Immerse-a-thon. We look forward to working with them in the future!
Location: 1225 East Winding Creek Drive, Suite 110, Eagle, ID 83616
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 3 to 10 PM; Friday & Saturday Noon to 11 PM; Sunday Noon to 7 PM; Closed Mondays.
For more information, call (208)941-5958 or send an email to: vr1arcade@gmail.com
Follow them on Facebook and check out their website!
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