Holodeck VR Lets Players Become Pac-Man in Virtual Reality

There are many different opportunities waiting to be explored in the world of virtual reality. Bringing existing or entirely new concepts to life is the number one benefit of using VR as a whole. Jonathan Nowak Delgado is working on creating a virtual reality playground. More specifically, the players will effectively become Pac-man or a Pong board, rather than controlling it with virtual hands. An interesting concept that may introduce a lot of new people to VR in the coming years.

A Real Pac-Man VR Experience?

On paper, it sounds rather unusual to become a full-grown Pac-Man or Pong board. Then again, Holodeck VR co-founder Jonathan Nowak Delgado has some bold plans to make virtual reality go mainstream. More specifically, he is looking into turning empty public space into full-fledged VR playgrounds. Players put on a headset and find themselves in the virtual world where they can complete challenges, hunt monsters, or look for collectibles.

Contrary to how VR gaming is perceived right now, this approach is very different. In most VR games, users can either sit down or manipulate their environment through virtual hands. Bringing movement-based gaming to virtual reality through real environments is a vastly different approach, to say the very least. A few different testing scenarios have been developed by Holodeck VR so far. Pac-Man and Pong are two of the popular concepts right now, but a version of Bomberman is also in the works.

Two different types of areas are created in these empty public spaces by Holodeck VR. The smaller room measures 20×20 meters, whereas the larger one is 200×200 meters. These areas accommodate up to 20 and 100 players at the same time respectively. The opportunities are virtually limitless when exploring this particular venture, that much is evident.  As of right now, the company relies on Samsung Gear VR headsets and proprietary tracking technology.

It is evident we will see more companies explore similar options in the world of virtual reality. HoloDeck VR is not the only competitor in this space right now, although they seem to be well ahead of the competition right now. Virtual reality may still be considered to be a niche market, but that situation will come to change in the future. While it may not necessarily sway too many consumers right now, it is evident public use of VR will slowly become the new normal over time.

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