Virtual-Reality ‘Star Wars’ Attractions Coming to Disney Malls – New York Times

Photo Lucasfilm and the Void, a Utah start-up, plan to build Star Wars virtual-reality experiences at Disney shopping malls. Credit ILMxLAB

LOS ANGELES Disney is already building lavish new Star Wars rides at its theme parks. On Thursday Disney unveiled additional plans for immersive Star Wars attractions at its shopping malls.

Lucasfilm, the Disney division that manages everything Star Wars, and the Void, a Utah start-up focused on walk-through virtual-reality experiences, plan to offer an attraction called Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney Springs, which is part of Walt Disney World outside Orlando, Fla. The companies said the experience would open beginning this holiday season.

The companies gave few additional details, omitting how much tickets would cost or exactly what participants would encounter. The Void described Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire this way in a news release, Guests will move freely throughout the untethered, social and multisensory experience as they interact and engage with friends, family and Star Wars characters.

The attraction will probably be similar to one the Void created last year at Madame Tussauds in New York. Featuring a Ghostbusters story line and costing $20 a person, that experience allows participants outfitted with special virtual-reality gear to feel as if they are searching for ghosts in a New York apartment building. Each person (four people can participate at once) carries a plastic gun that becomes a functioning proton pack, just like in the Ghostbusters films, through the magic of virtual reality.

It is easy to imagine the Void creating Star Wars lightsaber fights using the same technology. The Void, which participates in Disneys accelerator program and prefers to call its offerings hyper-reality, is collaborating with Lucasfilms immersive entertainment division, ILMxLAB, on the Secrets of the Empire project.

The Void is a leader in an area of entertainment that big media companies like Disney see as growth opportunity. Imax has also opened virtual-reality locations that offer multiple experiences like the video arcades of yesteryear and a start-up called Dreamscape Immersive, run by a former Disney executive, plans to unveil virtual reality experiences in the fall.

A version of this article appears in print on August 4, 2017, on Page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Immersive Star Wars Attractions Due at Disney Malls.

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Virtual-Reality 'Star Wars' Attractions Coming to Disney Malls - New York Times