Valo Motion, a pioneer in combining interactive technology with physical activities, is celebrating the appointment of Marisa Garris, business development manager for North America, to the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA)'s Mixed Reality (XR) and Immersive Technology Committee.
AAMA is the international non-profit trade organisation representing manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and operators across the coin-operated amusement sector. Its XR committee focuses on education and manufacturing standards for augmented, mixed, and virtual reality technology.
Garris's appointment adds an operator-first voice to this conversation.
Operator-first ethos
Garris's extensive experience in the amusement industry includes two and a half years at Valo Motion, where she has worked with family entertainment centres (FECs) and active indoor entertainment operators across North America.
During this time, she has gained a clear understanding of a key issue impacting the industry: increasing staffing costs. With each attraction that requires a dedicated staff member to operate, the venue's margin per square foot is reduced. Operators require attractions that run themselves.
"Before some of the current challenges emerged in the industry, Valo Motion was already solving many of the unspoken needs of operators," says Garris. "As markets have tightened, those qualities have become even more relevant."
Valo Motion's approach has been operator-first from the outset, demonstrated by the launch of ValoClimb a decade ago, followed by ValoJump and ValoArena. Products are tested at Valo Motion's own FEC, ValoHalli in Helsinki, before they ship.
"We meet many of the unspoken needs operators are facing today," she adds. "Valo Motion attractions enable new revenue streams and bring active entertainment into traditional venues with relatively low capital and operational costs."
In addition to her work at Valo Motion, Garris has contributed to Foundations Entertainment University, the FEC sector's educational event, to help operators create a winning entertainment mix for their venues.
In both classroom sessions and panel discussions with industry leaders, her presentations have concentrated on practical questions operators face when evaluating attractions.
Topics have included how to select anchor experiences with broad appeal, how to design for repeatability and group play, and how to balance innovation with operational reliability.
With this appointment, Garris brings the operator's perspective to the AAMA XR Committee to help shape industry standards and the adoption of new technologies.
Last month, Valo Motion released findings on the seven key trends that FEC and LBE operators should focus on in 2026, based on insights from IAAPA Expo 2025.
