Visitors to London’s O2 Arena can enjoy a new 12-station virtual reality (VR) entertainment zone thanks to an agreement between its operators and Immotion Group.
The partnership with Waterfront, the joint venture between owner of The O2, AEG Europe, and Crosstree Retail Partners, will see the first installation of the entertainment company’s new themed VR Arena, a four-person free-roaming shooting experience, exclusively featuring the interactive VR game ‘Raw Data’.
Immotion will also install two VR cinema pods, the first featuring a series of VR Roller Coasters, and the second being the new ‘Undersea Explorer’ stand, and a four-person motion cinema where users can experience swimming with Turtles, Humpback Whales and Tiger Sharks in VR.
Marion Dillon, leasing director for The O2, said: “Immotion’s new VR entertainment zone is a great addition to The O2, providing visitors with a unique experience that complements the breadth of offer already available. Initiatives such as this are vital as they provide additional reasons to visit, or can help extend an existing trip, both of which help deliver additional sales for our retailers, cafés, bars and restaurants.”
The O2 welcomes more than nine million visitors a year to the 20,000-capacity arena and entertainment district of more than 29 bars and restaurants, multiplex cinema, trampoline park and bowling alley.
The installation will run for an initial six-month period allowing the company to test both the Summer and Christmas holiday periods with profits generated being shared between Immotion and Waterfront.
Martin Higginson, Immotion Group chief executive, said: “I am thrilled to be bringing our VR experiences into such an iconic location as The O2. We are confident this initial trial through to early 2020 will prove successful and we look forward to working with Waterfront on a long-term basis.
“Our focus on quality high footfall edutainment and leisure locations doesn’t get any better than The O2. Adding a range of VR experiences to this landmark destination will, we hope, make the visitor journey even more enjoyable.
“We continue to provide our partners with new exciting attractions that complement their offerings and generate valuable ancillary revenue for them, whilst building recurring revenues for Immotion. We believe this is a highly scalable model with global potential.”
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