Latest news with #SandboxVR
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TOCA Social to open third UK venue at Westfield London on 1 July
Interactive football and dining destination TOCA Social is to launch its third UK venue at Westfield London in Shepherds Bush on 1 July. The competitive socialising brand will occupy 30,000 sq ft of the former Debenhams department store space, hosting 24 game boxes and with a 1,000 standing capacity. TOCA Social White City will also offer virtual reality experience, Sandbox VR including the Squid Game Virtuals game created in collaboration with Netflix. TOCA Social opened its first site at The O2 in London in 2021 followed by the Bullring in Birmingham last year. Alex Harman, President of TOCA Social, said: 'There is a clear and accelerating trend of people wanting more experiential entertainment, particularly around the nation's favourite sport, football. TOCA Social White City will be our third UK venue and largest yet, although we feel we are still scratching the surface of demand for TOCA Social. 'We are delighted to be partnering with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield on this project and excited to be opening our doors in time for the Women's Euros in July." Andy Scanlon, co-founder and CEO of Sandbox VR UK & Ireland, said: 'We are excited to bring the future of entertainment with our groundbreaking virtual reality experiences to TOCA Social's biggest venue yet, Westfield White City. This is the start of an exciting collaboration and we look forward to immersing guests in a whole new world of interactive entertainment like never before.' Jacinta Rowsell, head of customer & retail operations, Northern Europe of Westfield's owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: 'The arrival of TOCA Social at Westfield London represents the future of destination-led retail – where world-class entertainment, dining, and technology come together under one roof. This partnership cements Westfield London as the capital's ultimate playground for the next generation of social experience.'
Technical.ly
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Technical.ly
Sandbox VR opens its Philly location to bring together gamers IRL
A new virtual reality experience in Philly wants to fully immerse gamers in its fictional worlds. Sandbox VR, a national chain of gaming centers, opened its 60th location in Rittenhouse Square on Wednesday, joining the trend of other adult-geared game experiences like Beat the Bomb, Puttshack and Fight Club in the area. Instead of just a headset, the company aims to make VR a full-body experience. Its system of sensors and motion capture cameras tracks players' bodies and puts all of their movements into the game, Stacy Stec, vice president of sales and marketing for LOL Entertainment, told 'Because a lot of times when people put on a VR headset, it's really just that screen,' she said. 'You might be able to see your hands, but you can't capture your whole body.' Players are given a VR headset, wrist trackers, ankle trackers and a haptic vest, which is used in VR to simulate sensations, like vibrations, in the game. Each player is assigned a color that matches all their gear and gets their picture taken to become an avatar in Sandbox's system. The venue has five rooms, called holodecks, where two to six players can participate, costing $55 to $60 per experience. Each room has 3D motion capture cameras lining the ceiling. The cameras connect the sensors each player is wearing, record their movement and translate it into the video game. If a game requires props, like for fighting off digital zombies, those items also have the same sensors to fully track the player's movement. Taking the VR trend outside of gamers' living rooms Sandbox VR launched in 2016, just when immersive gaming was starting to pick up steam. The idea behind the company was to create an immersive experience that allowed more interaction between the players, founder Steve Zhao told CNBC in 2019. Last fall, Sandbox announced a franchise agreement with experience company LOL Entertainment to open four new locations along the East Coast, including Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The Rittenhouse Square location offers nine games, including one based on the TV show 'Squid Game' as part of a partnership with Netflix. But the company also makes its own video games, a lot of which are set in science fiction settings, Stec said. The games that Sandbox hosts lean into the social element of gaming; it wants to create experiences where the players are working together and communicating with each other, she said. Players also wear headphones and a microphone so they can talk to each other. 'Being able to get people into that team mode and that collaborative mode [are] the types of games that they're going for,' she said. 'But … there's games where you can sabotage your friends if you really wanted to.' Scroll on to see inside the new Philly location. Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Axios
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Philadelphia weekender: Easter events, zoo art and Riverdance
It's spring in Philly! Here's what's happening this weekend: 🦋 Check out the massive plant sculptures that have landed at the Philadelphia Zoo. The new exhibit runs through October and features five plant displays scattered across the zoo's campus, including giraffes, a peacock, a butterfly and fish. Tickets: $19-$29; kids 2 and under are free 🍺 The Independence Mall beer garden is open. Grab a beer, cozy up in a hammock and grab a bite to eat. Free admission, pay as you go. Weekday happy hours: 4-6pm. 🥟 Morgan's Pier, one of Philly's favorite spring and summer hang-out spots, is back open for the season. You know what that means: drinks, food, live music, trivia and DJ nights. 🍔 Franklin Square is opening for the season on Saturday. Check out the fountains, enjoy games and grab a SquareBurger. The Philly region is celebrating Easter with a basket full of events: 🐣 Check out Eggstravaganza at Shady Brook Farm. Wagon rides, obstacle courses and more kid-friendly fun. Friday-Saturday, 10am-5pm. Tickets: $10 online for adults, $20 at the gate; $15 online for kids, $25 at the gate. 🍺 Adults need a little Easter fun, too. Evil Genius is doing a free Kegs and Eggs block party on Saturday. Vendors, food and booze. Noon-6pm. 🎮 Back to life, back to virtual reality. Check out Sandbox VR, a stimulating sensory experience in Rittenhouse Square. Choose from nine different worlds, including Netflix's "Squid Game." There are also some kid-friendly experiences. Book your trip.
