After what seemed to be an almost two year wait, the Void has finally opened their doors in their home Utah location. I have yet to sample any of The Void’s experiences. I have read there are many good aspects and many bad aspects. Overall, each individual needs to be the judge for themselves.
As The Void claims, they are now operating at 90 frames/sec and with a FOV comparable to the Vive. Participants are equipped with backpacks so there are no annoying cables to deal with. Evidently, compared to some other immersive experiences, the extra weight on a participant’s back is worth the extra frame rate and expanded field of view. It also seems as if The Void’s tracking problems have been solved with the new tracking system by OptiTrack. OptiTrack claims their cameras are 40{76c5cb8798b4dc9652375d1c19c86d53c1d1411f4e030dd406aa284e63c21817} less expensive than competitor’s. I am not sure this is so remarkable. 40{76c5cb8798b4dc9652375d1c19c86d53c1d1411f4e030dd406aa284e63c21817} from $.5 million is still close to $.25 million which is still quite a chunk of change. iMyth will need to find other ways around this entry barrier. Tracking balls are also hidden from the experience. This is actually a good idea since tracking balls tend to stick out and be one more item to potentially break. This is achieved with imbedded led lights and silver metallic paint which is the same stuff used to paint the Nike logo on the sides of your shoes.
The tracking and the overall experience appear to be stable. There still seems to be some dynamic problems in tight situations where participant bump into each other. Evidently the avatars don’t really match the person they are modelling. This is attributed to only the participant’s head and gun being tracked. With that said, participants were feeling disappointed they could not see their hands. Once again this is because the participants hands are not being tracked.
The price of the experience is $25 for a less than 15 minute experience. Some may question this price and make it hard to justify a trip to Linden Utah. However, if one is passing through with a little time on their hands then the experience is definitely worth it.
Once again The Void is back on top of the Pioneer Train of Immersive experience. They are definitely discovering many of the bumps and pitfalls of this immerging new media. For us little guys let’s hope they do not run out of money so they can keep hitting these snags and coming up with solutions. Good Luck!
