Another World VR Arena opened in Mississauga near Pearson Airport and had its grand opening on Feb. 1.
The virtual reality playground is a franchise among 112 VR arenas in 76 cities across 19 countries. The VR franchise develops its games and provides games for a wide range of age groups and various genres.
Eshaan Rao, Another World VR Arena Mississauga franchise owner, says when you move in reality, you should move like that in VR. | HumberETC/Ryan Persaud
Eshaan Rao, owner of the Mississauga franchise, said this location is 15 minutes away from all the largest cities.
“I like to (say), you don't have to be visible, but you have to be accessible,” he said.
Rao said 99 per cent of the business involves bookings.
"We market online, we get bookings. But one thing that's very important for us is we have to be convenient. People should be able to drive 20 minutes from wherever they are and get to here,” he said.
Rao said true VR is about being fully immersed, where physical movements are mirrored in the virtual world. So, if a player moves their right shoulder, it should move in the game. He said a player's virtual self would respond to real movements, such as bending down, lying down, jumping and even running at a high speed.
“In the game, you can take an elevator, you'll be standing in the same spot, but you'll actually feel like you're going 100 floors up. You'll get that feeling and you'll be in a completely different level of a building or space,” he said.
Rao said the VR technology they use is safe.
“For example, you can try, when you put on the headsets before you bump into a wall, there will be an imaginary wall in the game telling you to stop. So actually, we don't have to supervise anyone. The technology supervises itself," he said.
“We've had three pre-opening days where we've brought in groups of people," Rao said. "I have videos of them playing and talking. So far everyone's given us five star reviews. They've been kicking, they've been screaming. They said this experience was unlike anything else."
Rao said the customer response is "beyond what I expected during the first 24 days.”
Smit Patel, a technician at Another World, said customers have been very happy with their experience with the VR games.
Patel said he has to ensure the VR games are running well and there are no issues.
"The main thing I do is make sure players stay within the boundary system of the game," he said. “ So they're not gonna hit a wall, but if they're running around a lot, I just have to make sure they don't, like, accidentally get, run into the boundary.”
Patel said that there are different types of VR headsets, such as Apple VR, Meta Quest, Pico and the Oculus. He said the term Oculus refers to the VR, but the device they use is called Meta Quest 3, the latest version created by Meta and “ we're using the latest version.”
Phebe Chung, content creator, says she's thankful to them for inviting her to experience their VR, especially on their opening day. | HumberETC/Ryan Persaud
Phebe Chung, a brand strategist and content creator, said Another World VR Arena Mississauga reached out to her hoping she could do a video with them, “and also do a giveaway with them, which I appreciate a lot.”
Chung said the first game she played was a war game, not exactly Call of Duty.
"The first game you’re fighting as a person as your own player," she said. "You have guns and armours for you to attack and protect. Everywhere you have to pick it up, (or) you will run out of bullets, so you have to go around and like find guns.”
Chung said the impressive segment of the game was the elevators, lifters and moving around to different blocks.
“It's actually really cool because you do feel it," she said. "You do feel like you're lifted up. And you do feel like you're going away somewhere.”
Chung said the second game was a game based on cooperation, where she and her friends stood and moved less but faced a menace.
“So we're just standing there and zombies would come from all around us," she said.
Chung said her friend was fighting off the zombies with his hands in the VR game.
“ I could actually see him next to me with his character, like just moving his hands like that, which is super hilarious,” Chung said. “ People are always looking for things to do, new things to experience with their friends, and this would definitely be a fun and new experience,” she said.
“ You could do VR and dinner," Chung said.
To book a VR experience, visit mississauga.another-world.com and use promo code: VRFUN.
