I felt strange walking around the VR Park as I used to go there with my cousins a lot when it was previously an arcade. The arcade had the exact same layout as the VR park: the roller coaster, the Burj Drop, the dune bashers attractions were nearly the same as in the arcade, but were now a completely different experience with the addition of VR. Thus, these VR experiences were designed for a currently existing physical experience. I remember riding the old roller coaster quite well: one is able to see the track and have the thrill of anticipating a drop, etc. However, there was a certain dimension(?) added with VR, a stronger narrative with a stronger role for the viewer. On the old roller coaster, the focus lay in the physical infrastructure whereas in VR the physical infrastructure is not the focus, but rather, it complements the VR narrative to give a stronger sense of storytelling.
My favorite experiences were the VR maze and the zombie shooting game. The VR maze was a really powerful individual experience that was well-engineered with a meaningful narrative. The frequent shooting of enemies with a bow and arrow as well as the collecting of the treasures created consistent levels of achievement to keep the viewer emotionally invested in the experience. The sound contributed to the ambience and also provided feedback for the viewer whenever they successfully shot an enemy. The four person zombie shooting game was also incredible for the immersive experience it provided. The sound contributed to this immersion as it made the zombies feel closer and more pressing. Additionally, having the headset and being able to hear the other team members made you feel part of a team and made it that much more important to protect the base from the zombies. One interesting aspect of the zombie game was that it sort of broke the “fourth wall” or whatever the VR equivalent is. As the game mode switched from training to the introduction to the actual game, you could see the grids and the VR system booting the new mode, making you aware that this was an artificial experience. Despite that, the game portion was still immersive.
It was also interesting to see the representation of the roles we took on in this VR world. In some of the rides, like Dune Bashers or Burj Drop, I appeared to be a white man which introduced a disconnect towards my role in the experience. In most of the attractions, however, no part of my body could be seen which actually made me feel more immersed in the experience. Another challenge of having a VR experience at such a large scale is the potential for technical difficulties. For instance, when I went on Dune Bashers, there seemed to be an error so that my VR experience conveyed that I was stationary in a garage but the physical experience was dune bashing. That disconnect between the VR and the physical narrative created such nausea in me and made me feel as if it were an artificial experience.