Jump Into The Light

Little did we all know then that we wouldn't have to wait until the 24th Century to have many of the technologies first introduced in Star Trek! One of those inventions is Virtual Reality (aka the Holodeck), which is only now getting its day in the light. This past weekend, I visited Jump Into the Light, which is a temporary space in the East Village dedicated to the Virtual Reality experience. There, they have the latest VR products including the Oculus Rift, the HTC VIVE, and the Samsung VR Gear. Sure, you can demo these products at various other retail locations, but this place truly allows you to compare and contrast. There, you have a variety of immersive experiences, like being on Safari with the animals in Africa, killing zombies, and walking the plank (not going to lie, it was pretty scary). At the end of the day, the most experiential, immersive technology was provided by the HTC VIVE. This gear allows you to move within your space, which feels the most realistic. Online reviews suggest that developers prefer this system to the Oculus Rift, and therefore are developing more games (sorry Oculus/Facebook). I am contemplating purchasing this system as I am thoroughly intrigued by where this is all headed. The reality (not virtual) is you need the system which costs $799 (headset, hand controls, & motion sensors) plus a high end gaming computer (or laptop) that has at least a 1060 graphics card (preferably 1070) and 16Gbs RAM. Therefore, in the meantime I'll have to get my Virtual Reality fix at Jump Into The Light!