Local gamers have a new virtual reality to enter and no, we’re not talking about Pokémon Go.
The Downtown Internet Lounge is celebrating five years in business with a party, coinciding with the Downtown Vernon Curbside Night Market on Friday, Aug. 26.
The main attraction will be free trials of one of Vernon’s newest forms of entertainment, Virtual Reality Gaming, or VR for short.
“Vernonites of all ages are welcome to come down to the lounge to try the new VR experience and enjoy food, giveaways and multi-player gaming,” said Josh Brazier, lounge co-owner with John Oh.
“We hope to get a few games of 10 vs. 10 games going on the computers, dividing the shop in half and battling against each other,” said Oh.
For those unfamiliar with VR, it consists of a person experiencing a three-dimensional environment where they interact with that environment during a game.
“While VR is not exactly new, advances in technology and computer gaming itself has led to a massive insurgence of companies releasing their versions of the experience,” said Brazier.
The Downtown Internet Lounge currently has the HTC Vive, which features bio-sensing technology, allowing a person’s presence in the game to be directed by small sensors attached to the player’s hands.
The player’s movements are then interpreted by a computer and trigger a variety of responses within the game.
“The first time I tried it, it literally made me jump. A zombie came up behind me and as I turned around it was right in my face. I yelled and the entire shop laughed,” said Oh.
The lounge has also secured the Oculus Rift, considered by many to be next generation of virtual reality, as well as a Virtuix Omni, a locomotion simulator that uses a platform to stimulate the motion of walking or running and requires special shoes that reduce friction.
Besides all the VR action, the lounge will be holding a food and toy drive.
“After all these years of focusing our efforts solely on our community, we have decided to expand our horizons a little bit and plan to send 50 shoeboxes of toys to less fortunate children somewhere in the developing world,” said Mike Boshman, the lounge’s computer and gaming guru.
The food collected will be dispersed to various charities throughout Vernon.
The lounge will be accepting donations of new and used small toys for boys and girls of any age, as well as non-perishable food items from now until December.