Conquering the Challenges of VR
VR is a great opportunity to experience whether you are the one playing it, or perhaps prepping others before they embark on their big journey. Regardless of what side you are on, however, there is challenges for both parties. For those of you playing with VR, the equipment might take some getting used to, and the games and the graphics can all be overwhelming if you have never been in an immersive gaming world before. Although those are things that you will quickly overcome, these challenges still exist for those prepping new gamers.
What are the Challenges of VR?
According to VR 360, some of the challenges that arise from virtual reality arcades are: first, arcade owners need to manually track the time that each person or group has been playing, thus making it a bit exhausting when you have more than 3 people in your facility. Second, and perhaps the biggest challenge, is needing to train all the staff and customers that have never been in a virtual reality arcade. They need to be trained on the hardware, how to switch between various games, and the games themselves. Not only is this time consuming, but it can still be confusing for some after the explanation, which could lead to multiple errors. If a gamer isn’t up to date with the equipment this could lead to frequent malfunctions that frustrate the gamer and lead them to rate VR poorly based on the troubles they encountered.
Is There a Solution?
Despite these challenges that can occur in VR facilities, there are possible solutions, although they are very different from one another and depend on the environment of the virtual reality arcade. The two options makes you choose whether you would like to be more surrounded by people with the same fun idea as you, or play in a more intimate setting while being immersed in a new world?
Option 1: IMAX VR
This is exactly what it sounds like: a movie theatre size VR playing space where you and your group of friends can come and experience the world of VR. The premise is very similar to purchasing a movie ticket. Walk in, choose a pod (a game room) and what type of game you wish to play while you are there. Once you get to your room, there is someone there to stay with you and guide you through the process and be present if any questions arise. So why might this be more appealing? IMAX VR players are given the same high tech equipment that would be found in your typical VR arcade, but with a bit more sensation. In these IMAX VR pods, players are given a vest to wear that reportedly makes you feel more submerged in the world that you’re about to enter. An experimental facility has been up and running in LA and has been monitored to see if there is much attraction to this sort of environment. According to a recent news article, it has been slowly increasing every month in terms of popularity and revenue, thus sounding like this type of VR experience may be the future, but will it?
Option 2: Springboard VR
Springboard VR has designed a program that helps to solve and overcome the challenges of VR. First, it helps to reduce employee load by allowing the entire arcade’s titles to be run from a single device. That’s correct, no having to insert new games anymore. Second, the device also teaches customers basic game play with custom tutorials so that a person is never left guessing how to work the equipment. Better yet, for all of you virtual reality arcade employees, it even tracks the time of each person so you can toss out those old stopwatches. Springboard VR has three main platforms to transform customer experience:
- Immerse: put customers center stage with a self directed experience inside the headset (gameplay, call for help, track play time, and the ability to switch games in the headset).
- Engage: run your arcade from any device and spend more time engaging your customers with station time automation, full arcade view and management, and real-time customer notifications.
- 3. Scale: maintain a small staff as your company grows with no compromises to customer experience. Springboard ensures quick and easy setup, maximized number stations and intuitive analytics.
These are all really important things that any virtual arcade could find useful no matter the size.
What will it be?
Both options offer a unique solution on how we can fix the issues that one might encounter at VR arcade, but which one will be proven to be more effective? Which will be more dominant will come down to which option customers gravitate to. Having a personal assistant aid you throughout your time gaming, if need be, or having complete freedom to do as you choose without having to interrupt your play too much? Only the future of these two unique solutions will tell.