San Diego Comic-Con is well underway, and it appears our friends over at VR Scout got a chance to try out one of the coolest looking VR activations there. The upcoming Amazon Prime TV series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, which is set to air next month, was the impetus of what can only be described as the most epic VR park installations we’ve seen recently.

Outfitted with a backpack mounted PC, a modified Oculus Rift, hand and foot trackers, and a repelling harness, VR Scout’s Jonathan Nafarrete got a chance to play the part of Jack Ryan, the series’ field operative protagonist, as he rappelled from a helicopter, braved death-defying heights, shot down insurgents, zip-lined to safety, and drove a motion platform-assisted personnel vehicle the hell out of there.

Much like VR parks such as The Void, physical objects like crates and walls are perfectly matched to their virtual counterparts in-headset, giving the user an extra layer of immersion that only location-based facilities have been able to replicate. VR Scout reports the Jack Ryan VR activation took up a 60,000 sq ft (~5,500 sq m) area.

Costumed attendants play the part, and guide Nafarrete through the VR experience. While it’s clear Nafarrete can only hear his guides and can’t actually see them, it certainly makes for an awesome spectacle for any of the Comic-Con goers waiting in line for their chance at what Nafarrete called “another level” above other location-based VR parks.

SEE ALSO
Inside VR Park, Dubai Mall's Massive New VR Theme Park

If anything, Jack Ryan’s Comic-Con VR Park is an awesome demonstration on how to combine VR with multiple physical elements to create something more than the sum of its parts. We’re hoping other park owners take notice, as the bar for heart-pumping VR immersion appears to have been set just a bit higher.

The Jack Ryan VR Park is available for con attendees for the duration of the San Diego Comic-Con, which takes place July 19th to July 22nd.

Check out Nafarrete’s full hands-on experience at VR Scout.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Foreign Devil

    I”m interesting in the tracking solution they used for this. . obviously not the Rift out of the box solution.

    • They are using Optitrack tracking tech to track user and props

      • R FC

        I just used an Rift/Opitrack/backpack PC setup here in London at dotdotdot’s “Somnai” hyper reality experience.

        Our 6 person group moved from room to room through virtual portals, each different room (desert, forest, ocean,etc.) had physical props like a rope bridge, padded floors, vegetation, heat lamps, scent generators, etc.

        The tracking was excellent, I could see each group member as a glowing avatar, my own body as a glowing avatar with fully tracked hands, legs, etc.

        These experiences continue to get better and better, as creators learn to leverage the virtual and mix it with the physical. We had 1 hour experience which took place in a huge building with role playing actors, holographic projection, the group vr session I mentioned, a hospital room with doctor putting Rifts on our heads, flying in clouds with Rifts on custom motion control chairs; ended in augmented reality bar with holograms floating up through our cocktail as the bar’s surface pulsated with patterns and seasonal design. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e145f03becd08f3373fd79c7021338555905d576fbe6eb901394a0aced8afd7d.jpg

  • brubble

    What fun! I’d love to visit The Void.

  • SEems tons of fun

  • That looks like a theme park devoted to America’s pointless war in the middle east. It’s been almost 20 years, when will it end??! The idea that people now find this “Cool” is simply horrible. WTF?

    • Javed Asghar

      When Israel says so. Which is after the new greater Israel is formed using US tax payers money maybe?