The Bob Cooney-led VR Collective will join together in booth #1316 at Amusement Expo. The group’s mission is “looking for early adopters and innovative operators who are willing to help us co-create a future where esports becomes a pillar of the FEC and arcade business.”
Joining Cooney as founding members of the VR Collective are Shaffer Distributing, AVS Companies and TrainerTainment. Cooney has been working with Scott Shaffer, Tony Shamma and Beth Standlee on the project.
“TrainerTainment, AVS, Shaffer and my team are building a new distribution model for the future of immersive entertainment,” Cooney writes in an upcoming article for RePlay. “It starts with VR, because that’s the technology we have today. But it won’t stop there. It will include all of the exponential technologies and cutting-edge innovations like Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality – anything that comes next.”
One of those products is the VAR Box, an unattended VR arcade cabinet with three different shooting games, with a total of nine modes, from the Hong Kong company VAR Live. Cooney last year arranged for test units to be flown into the States. Through the initial three months of U.S. testing, the machine has already lived up to its promises, he said. It’s got a 42” LCD screen so spectators can see the action and a realistic gun peripheral modeled after a Glock handgun. Cooney says, “It’s extremely accurate and has a great haptic kick when you pull the trigger.”
VR Box will be at the VR Collective’s booth at AEI – #1316.