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Dreamscape Immersive debuts Alien Zoo location-based VR experience

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Alien Zoo. Dreamscape Immersive. VR. Virtual reality. Westfield.

Dreamscape Immersive has debuted a location-based, virtual reality experience at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.

The virtual reality (VR) experience, Alien Zoo, takes up to six users on an extra-terrestrial journey to “walk side by side with massive beasts, play with adorable and exotic creatures, and fight the most deadly predator in all the cosmos”. It is open from now until March 2 at Westfield Century City.

The 40-minute attraction uses a new VR technology that engages all of a user’s senses, according to Dreamscape. The equipment includes a backpack, sensor-equipped gloves, shoe coverings, and a headset.

It makes use of body-mapping technology developed by Swiss research institute Artanim exclusively for Dreamscape Immersive.

Walter Parkes, co-chairman of Dreamscape and former president of DreamWorks Entertainment, told The Hollywood Reporter that the technology can recognise body movements and update the user’s position in the game, almost in real time.

“Our partners at Artanim come from the world of medical imaging; because of their understanding of how the body works, we’re able to track relatively little information, the position of your hands and head and feet, and the algorithms fill in all the blanks,” he said.

While Alien Zoo is original content, Parkes said that the company’s next set of properties will likely be tied to major franchises.

Dreamscape is an immersive VR startup creating location-based experiences. Its team includes CEO Bruce Vaughn, the former head of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Chief Operating Officer Aaron Grosky, who is also president of Control Room Entertainment.

The company’s investors include Steven Spielberg, Warner Brothers, 21st Century Fox, MGM, AMC Entertainment, Westfield Malls, Imax and Nickelodeon.

Dreamscape hopes to launch a permanent flagship location at Westfield Century City, however it has not yet been confirmed. It has signed a deal with AMC to bring immersive VR experiences to four to six locations in the US and Europe over the next year.

Alien Zoo will also be taken to the Middle East in the next two months as part of a partnership with Majid Al Futtaim, owner over Vox Cinemas as well as various shopping malls and leisure properties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzqSa2hX6FA

Images: c. Dreamscape Immersive.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/virtual-reality-experience-debuts-at-westfield-century-city-dreamscape-startup-1082632

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Sam McCaffrey

Journalist. Likes immersive entertainment experiences, museums, zoos and the odd go on a Waltzer.

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