I experienced the future of VR at Dreamscape in LA. This company is partnering with AMC Theaters, which will be rolling out 10 minute (and perhaps longer) VR experiences at theaters across the US in the 2020s, and probably the world.

You strap on an enclosing helmet, as well as attachments to your wrists and feet to capture your movements. It’s a 360 degree experience, with zero latency, that’s fully responsive to your actions. You can experience falling, roller coaster effects, living animals engaging with you, and more. We experienced their Alien Zoo and Pearl Quest (think: Indiana Jones). In both, we were given a cylindrical plastic “device” to hold.

In one of the two, the device turned into a torch, with full torch-like attributes except for heat. In the other, it turned into a flashlight, which illuminated wherever it was pointed in a totally believable manner.

Dreamscape still lacks taste and smell. Those are still in the laboratory.

For $20, it’s definitely a bucket list experience.

The possibilities, which will surely be realised by the 2030s, are staggering. These include:

Education
Experiences with multiple threads of action depending on user choices
Longer immersions
All manner of fantastic worlds people dream about, brought to life. (Expect Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and many more!)
Many more I’m not thinking of right now.