LINDON — A team from Utah has developed technology that not only lets people see into another world, but touch and smell it as well.

When The Void’s hyper-reality experience “Ghostbusters: Dimension” debuted at Madame Tussaud’s in New York City in July, it received rave reviews from outlets like CNET and Engadget. What makes the experience so remarkable — and convincing — is how it takes virtual reality to the next level by adding in special effects on the attraction stage.

“Right now we have an overwhelming response and the place is packed,” said James Jensen, chief visionary officer and co-founder of The Void. “We could probably have four or five stages out there and ‘Ghostbusters’ would be packed, so it’s looking really good out there.”

The tech

The Void has come a long way since its alpha test in early 2015. In the beginning, Jensen said the team was tearing apart laptops and putting them in different cases, while using a snowboarding helmet with a head-mounted display attached and microphone taped on. Now, they’re using a custom "backtop," which houses a gaming computer and operating system, that only weighs 3.3 pounds so it fits comfortably in a vest for visitors to wear.

They also created a fully-dynamic, directional haptic vest, which Jensen said is the first of its kind on the market. There are 22 points of force feedback in the haptic vest, allowing for targeted effects during hyper-reality experiences.

“In ‘Ghostbusters,’ when the ghosts fly through you, they fly through you appropriately depending on your direction in the world,” Jensen said. “So, when explosions happen next to you, they are different for each person on your team because they’re positioned differently.”

These developments are what led The Void to start describing its technology as hyper-reality instead of virtual reality during the past year, according to Jensen.

“We drew a line in the sand and said, ‘Hey, we’re not virtual reality,’” he said. “What virtual reality is, is peering into another world but not actually being in that world. You can only go so far with the visuals.”

“You can show them an amazing place, but if you don’t have any other feedback of this amazing place then they don’t actually feel like they are in that place,” he continued. “Where hyper-reality comes into play is we give you all of that other feedback, so in your mind you can’t really work out whether you’re there or not so you can really let go and enjoy the space.”

In the ‘Ghostbusters’ experience, players are equipped with a headset, proton pack and proton gun. Without the VR headset the stage looks like a simple black space with walls and doors, but the technology transforms all of that. If a player reaches for a door knob in the game, their fingers will reach a real, metal knob to turn and open. When a player sees a chair in the haunted apartment, they can feel how soft it is and sit in it.

Players can even see where their teammates, who show up decked out in a ‘Ghostbusters’ uniform, are standing. The location of players in the game matches where they are in the real world, allowing people to interact while avoiding bumping into each other unless they want to.

Jensen said that even though he has VR equipment at home, his kids hardly touch it because they love The Void so much.

“At The Void, they get to bring their friends in and go be ‘Ghostbusters’ together and then chat after,” he said. “It’s a completely different experience. And they’re untethered and have haptic feedback. I’ve really kind of spoiled them. When you hold a cardboard up to your face with a cellphone it’s not quite the same after you’ve been to the VOID.”

Another benefit of The Void’s hyper-reality system is that people don’t feel sick, according to Jensen. He said he can’t use normal VR without feeling queasy, but he has comfortably spent more than an hour in The Void before because being able to touch the walls and other objects lets the brain orient itself to what it is seeing.

Plans for Utah

While the ‘Ghostbusters’ experience is currently only available in NYC, Jensen wanted to make sure people know The Void hasn’t forgotten about Utah. The company will be breaking ground on a large experience center in Pleasant Grove soon. It is expected to open sometime in 2017.

While the building is under construction, The Void plans to offer hyper-reality experiences at its headquarters in Lindon, according to Jensen. He said it should open shortly, pending updates to the company’s ticketing system.

“(Utah) will be the center of hyper-reality experiences for the world and the capital of it,” he said. “In the very near future, we’ll have people flying in from all around the world to come see our center here and what the true vision of it is, because The Void experience center will be here and that is the vision of what we want to create.”

The partnership with Sony for ‘Ghostbusters’ was actually struck after an executive producer bought tickets to go through The Void’s beta program, which ran for several months, with his son in Utah. Jensen said no one at The Void knew the executive producer was coming, but that after he went through he told them he loved it and started tossing out ideas for features — one of which was ‘Ghostbusters.’

The setup in NYC is what Jensen called an attraction stage, which can accommodate as many as 60 people per hour by using a looping system for a fairly linear storyline. In comparison, the center in Utah is slated to have full dimension stages, which will allow groups to split up and go on their own adventures with multiple choices available before the story resolves and they meet back up in the end.

Jensen said Utah will probably be the first place anyone will experience a dimension stage. He also said to expect to see The Void expand in the next few months, with a large plan for worldwide expansion set for 2017.

“We have the biggest brands coming to us now because we are known as the professionals,” he said. “We have the professional equipment; we have the professional system; we have the best way to do that to content.”

When The Void does open in Utah, Jensen said it will offer experiences exclusive to Utah for somewhere around $20 or $25. The ‘Ghostbusters’ experience in NYC will run through 2017 and could potentially be extended, with an option to evaluate whether Madame Tussaud’s wants to keep it there or whether it should be moved at the end of the contract.

Tickets for The Void’s beta program in Utah, which offered simpler experiences than ‘Ghostbusters: Dimension’ offers, sold out in about 30 minutes, according to Jensen.

“People definitely want to come here and we’d love to have them come,” he said.

Jensen said that when he first dreamed up The Void 16 years ago, it just wasn’t possible to create. However, he drew up sketches and a business plan. He always kept the idea on the back of his mind, believing that someday he would have the opportunity to build it.

“I think that’s important — for people to have their dreams on mind and be ok with the timeline when it happens,” he said. “When I look back at all of the things I did over the last 16 years, it really prepared me to do what we’re doing right now… I hope to kind of instill that in my kids, to keep your dreams alive because you never know. All of the things you’re doing right now might prepare you to be able to pull that off. Don’t give up on it.”

Contact the author at ncrofts@ksl.com or find her on Twitter.

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