There’s a new entertainment option at The Battery Atlanta that will turn you and your friends into contestants in “Squid Game.” But the good news is, you and all your friends will leave with your lives.
Sandbox VR recently opened its second location at The Battery, joining the Interlock location on Howell Mill Road in bringing virtual reality games to Atlanta.
“Groups of up to six friends freely roam VR spaces together, exploring virtual worlds and relying on each other to succeed in games specifically designed to be social experiences,” the company notes on its website. “When guests step into our virtual worlds, they experience the world’s most advanced virtual reality.”
With the new location opening at The Battery, the company unveiled its newest offering, “Squid Game.”
The virtual reality experience is based on the hit Netflix show of the same name, revolving around a game show that has altered a series of children’s games to make them deadly. It features more than 400 contestants risking their lives to win a massive monetary prize.
The “Squid Game” virtual reality experience at Sandbox VR is one of seven experiences guests can be transported into. There’s Deadwood Valley, where guests engage in an adrenaline-pumping thrill-ride through a town overrun by zombies. Deadwood Mansion challenges team members to survive a zombie apocalypse. Curse of Davy Jones is targeted at groups with younger participants, with players battling on the high seas against supernatural creatures and hunting for the long-lost treasure of Davy Jones. In Amber Sky 2088, participants become heroic androids equipped with futuristic weapons, defending Earth from an alien invasion while soaring through the clouds on a space elevator. In Star Trek: Discovery, team members become Starfleet Officers, exploring alien worlds. In Unbound Fighting League, guests transform into futuristic gladiators competing against friends in thrilling duels in a breathtaking arena beyond reality’s limits.
“Our team set out to build experiences where you and your friend can be in the same space and touch shoulders, high five or shake hands,” Sandbox VR Founder and CEO Steven Zhao said. “We felt like that was the magic moment because when someone is in virtual reality and they can do everything humanly and naturally, that’s when they forget they are inside a simulation.”
“Our proprietary, patented technology combines full-body motion capture and high-quality haptics to provide unprecedented realism and complete immersion that’s not possible with home VR or other location-based VR platforms,” the company notes.
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How does it work?
After signing in, players strap on headsets, lenses, vests, and sensors before entering the experience. Sandbox VR uses real-time motion capture technology, the same technology used in movies and games, to track the entire body of all competitors in real-time. This allows players to know exactly where they are and their teammates within the virtual reality experience. The virtual reality adventures have clear boundaries within the game to prevent people from running into walls.
In some games, guests will carry virtual reality weapons. In “Squid Game,” contestants compete in child-like challenges using their hands and feet.
Once the dust settles and a winner in the virtual reality experience is crowned, all the contestants will have a chance to battle it out in a dance competition. Afterward, when guests remove all their gear, they’ll sit down and watch a highlight tape of the day’s outing.
Games cost about $50 per player, and the experience lasts about an hour and a half.
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