Ever want to fly around like a bird? Well, now you can — if you’re in Paris. French cinema operator MK2 opened Europe’s largest permanent VR space Friday, allowing visitors to experience premium full-body VR in the heart of Paris’ new “tech district.”
“We are bringing VR to a multiplex-like environment with the opening of the first-ever entertainment venue fully dedicated to upscale VR experiences,” said Elisha Karmitz, general director of MK2.
The MK2 facility offers VR experiences that use every major headset currently available, including the HTC Vive, the Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR. Through a partnership with BNP Paribas, MK2 has added full-body, room-scale VR to the Bibliotheque, its flagship Paris megaplex.
MK2 hopes to become a flagship venue for premium VR experiences, offering up a uniquely trendy design that embraces a glassy, open-walled aesthetic not unlike an Apple Store. MK2’s general director hopes visitors will not only come to experience VR but also to hang out. The new venue houses a rooftop terrace bar, as well as premium, full-body VR experiences.
One such VR experience allows users to discover what it feels like to soar between the towers and skyscrapers of New York City, by laying on a board suspended from above and controlling their motion with their outstretched arms – or as they become in the VR experience, their wings.
Visitors can buy tickets for 20- or 40-minute VR experiences, including fully interactive VR games and more relaxing fare like the aforementioned Eagle Flight. Included in the list of VR content available at launch are a few familiar faces — The Climb by Crytek, Star Wars Battlefront’s X-Wing VR mission, and Space Pirate by I-Illusion.
The MK2 venue is the first of its kind and it’s definitely an interesting way to present VR, which still has some pretty high barriers for entry — namely the price and system requirements. By offering up VR in a movie-theater-meets-arcade environment, MK2 hopes to bring VR to the masses sooner rather than later.
