VR Territory opened on International Drive 2 months ago. As my son is a huge fan of anything to do with technology and computers and has asked me for a VR system continuously for the last year, we absolutely had to check it out.
We arrived and were welcomed. First we had to fill in forms on ipads and sign permission for the children. On the ipads you could also look at all the games available to play. It was explained to me that for the kids they could change the options so they could not access any inappropriate games which is really useful.
We were then given a brief on how to use the equipment. We were shown how to hold and use the controllers and how to tell if we were moving too close to a wall.
Then it was time to have a go. Each of us had our own booth. The booths were 10ft by 10ft curtained cubicles with open fronts. Each cubicle had its own state of the art gaming computer and the latest VR setup. The headset was attached to a wire that went up across the ceiling so you could walk freely around the booth whilst wearing it and the hand controllers were wireless.
We were helped to put on the headsets and controllers and found ourselves standing in a square black room with a yellow grid around the edges and a spaceship type door behind us. My mind was blown at this point! It was so incredibly real and like something off futuristic films and I hadn’t even logged in yet to play any games!
We were told how to log in and initially all went into rec room which was a big lobby with doors off it to different games to play. You joined other players from around the world and could interact and talk to each other. In the lobby you could pick up bottles of water and other things. I initially couldn’t work out how to pick them up so I batted some off the table for fun then headed for the door that said “paintball” The kids also went through this door and we played paintball together! It was really realistic, apart from it obviously not hurting when you were hit and even though you could walk around as far as your cubicle and wire would let you which made you move in the game, mostly you needed to use the controller to move from place to place.
The kids all left to try their own games and I stayed playing paintball for a while as I was having fun capturing flags but then for the last five minutes I had a go at Google Earth. Google Earth was again amazing, you can visit anywhere in the world and it looks so real!
At all times staff members were watching our games on their screen and were there to give help and advice when we needed it, often without us needing to ask as they could see what we were doing and struggling with.
Then our thirty minute session was over. It felt a little strange coming back to reality, kind of like when you have been on a boat for a while and then walk around on dry land feeling like you are on a boat. The kids could have gone for longer but I personally don’t think I could manage more than half an hour of VR without starting to feel a bit sick, maybe you get used to it. However half an hour is enough time to have a good go and it’s definitely worth experiencing. We all loved it. We were guests of VR Territory for this experience but all opinions are our own.
Visiting VR Territory with an autistic child?
If you have a child who is into computer games then this place is amazing! I would definitely book to go there if you are in the area.
It’s quiet, dark, calm, friendly and great fun!
Staff are on hand to give as much help as you need and explain things clearly and patiently.
There is a need to be able to follow verbal instructions in order to get the best out of the experience.
My son LOVED it!
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