The future is here and so is that famed galaxy far, far away. There's a new VR experience set to hit Downtown Disney this holiday season, and it'll put you right in the middle of the Star Wars action. Thanks to technology from location-based VR company the VOID, with production by Lucasfilm's ILMxLab, you'll be able to move around and actually smell, touch and feel the digital Star Wars world around you.
Opening both here and in Disney Springs at Orlando's Walt Disney World, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will allow players to walk freely through a real-life space that's been mapped with a virtual-reality overlay, transforming their literal surroundings into an immersive and interactive Star Wars universe. There aren't many details regarding the experience's plot just yet, but if we can infer anything from the concept art, you'll be battling Storm Troopers with the aid of a Droid who looks an awful lot like K-2SO, whom we met in Rogue One. The setting also closely resembles Darth Vader's lava-surrounded castle from the film.
Photograph: Courtesy the VOID
“At the VOID, we combine the magic of illusion, advanced technology and virtual reality to create fully immersive social experiences that take guests to new worlds,” says co-founder and CEO Curtis Hickman. “A truly transformative experience is so much more than what you see with your eyes; it’s what you hear, feel, touch and even smell. Through the power of The VOID, guests who step into Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire won’t just see this world, they’ll know that they are part of this amazing story.”
Sound familiar? The VOID brought its "hyper-reality" VR experience to New York last summer with Ghostbusters: Dimensions, and we more than recommend you take a look at how that went:
Given the VOID's track record and the unstoppable cultural juggernaut that is Star Wars, this collaboration seems like a solid new attraction—and that's playing it safe—and one that can only ramp up excitement for Disneyland's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge section of the park, which is set to open in 2019.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.