Minnesota’s Mall of America, the United States’ largest mall, is getting the popular VR out-of-home experience The VOID soon.
According to a report by Attractions Magazine, The Void will be opening at the Mall of America first with its successful VR experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, which was created in partnership with Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB.
The Void combines physical spaces with wireless VR headsets (via backpack-mounted PCs) and tracked peripherals to create its seamless blending of the virtual and the physical world. The Star Wars VR experience itself puts blasters in your hands, and allows up to four players to head in at the same time.
“The Void brings a new level of immersive experience and storytelling to Mall of American through its state-of-the-art technology,” said Heather Brechbill-Swilley, vice president of real estate and leasing. “We’re excited to offer guests the chance to be the hero of their own adventure in a variety of beloved universes through The Void’s unique attraction model.”
We went hands-on with the Secrets of the Empire at The Void late last year, and it provided an experience that Road to VR’s Garret Bullard says “definitely nailed the feeling of Star Wars.”
Walking around the corridors on Mustafar felt like we were really sneaking into an Imperial stronghold dressed as Stormtroopers. We were greeted with the familiar cold steel and clean lined interior of an imperial base patrolled by Stormtroopers. Needless to say, the sneaking around didn’t last terribly long, and soon after landing we were engaged in combat with Stormtroopers all around us. Grabbing a physical blaster and returning fire on a group of enemies brought me back to one of my favorite scenes in A New Hope (1977) where Luke and Leia are trapped on the Death Star and must defend themselves from Stormtroopers shooting up at them from below.
The opening mark’s The Void’s first location in the Midwest. New locations coming in the near future include Atlanta, Austin, Hollywood, New York City, Philadelphia, Santa Monica, and Washington D.C.
Its uncertain when the Mall of America location is set to open, although Mall organizers state it’s “opening soon.”
