As usual, New York City is at the forefront of the future. Nestled in a gallery oon Bowery is America's very first Virtual Reality Cinema, and it is now open to the public.
At first glance, the Jump Into The Light Play Lab seems to be rather bare and eerily quiet. A dozen white chairs are filled with people wearing giant rectangular goggles and aimlessly waving their hands. Sounds weird? Don’t knock it just yet. Grab a pair of goggles and prepare yourself to be transported to an alternate reality.
The Play Lab includes four different interactive stations that are nothing like you’ve ever experienced before. The 360 Cinema offers a vast number of seat-gripping films that take viewers directly into the nucleus of a cell, through a mythological world, soaring above New York City, and more.
Oculus Rift introduces a virtual space that you can manipulate with your own two hands, even to the point of controlling gravity. The space around you soon becomes a canvas with Google’s Tilt Brush, which allows users to not only paint original creations in 3D but also become fully immersed in the works of professional NYC Artists like Greg Haberny and Misha Tyutyunik.
You can also take the Ultimate 3D Selfie, where your body is scanned using 360 degree photographic technology, leaving you with one of a kind, social media-ready images.
Virtual Reality will unarguably transform the way we think, create, and learn, and it is time to welcome it to 2016. For an unforgettable experience across every age group, all-access tickets are available for purchase starting at just $45.
Ashley Jankowski
Contributing Writer
Ashley is a journalism student living in a 5-foot wide bedroom in NYC. In between class, She can be found working out, wandering into bookstores or making To-Do lists.
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