By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
For years, virtual reality has been relegated to science fiction realms like The Matrix or Star Trek as a technology that can transport users to completely different worlds where everything looks and seems real, despite what may be happening in the outside world.
Yet in a section of the Hillsborough Business Center on Ilene Court, Kris Waszak and Adam Radziszewski are working to bring that technology to the forefront through the use of games and catered experiences at RcadeVR.
“We’re giving access to some new technology and some new experiences,” Mr. Waszak said. “We’re trying to get people to come out and give it a try.”
Through the use of virtual reality, Mr. Waszak, 41, and his partner, Mr. Radziszewski, 42, are hoping to use the five HTC Vive virtual reality stations they’ve set up as a way to bridge the gap between the average user and recent innovations.
“We’re looking into how this technology can help people in general,” Mr . Radziszewski said. “We can take a greater advantage of this.”
In recent years, consumer electronics companies like HTC, Oculus and Sony have pushed virtual reality as a platform, releasing proprietary headsets, controllers and sensors that allow computers to monitor a user’s movements in 3D and displaying them in a high-resolution headset worn by the user.
The created effect allows whoever is using the headset to see their movements recreated in real-time with little to no lag between the action and what’s happening on screen.
Despite the technology’s relatively new status on the market, companies have tried to make virtual reality into a consumer reality for decades. Only with the release of devices like the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift have people begun adopting the technology in numbers.
Mr. Radziszewski said his first experience with the Vive, shortly after it was released in April, opened his eyes to the possibilities.
“I started looking into VR when I was working with a different company and they were like, ‘eh, it’s too far out there,’ but for me, it just stuck,” he said. “It was very enchanting for me because I was looking at VR for a while as a technologist, but what happened was that although the technology wasn’t ready, I knew there was something here.”
It was shortly after trying the HTC Vive that Mr. Radziszewski approached Mr. Waszak, who had been his partner in a computer store in the past, to potentially open up a small business centered around the growing technology.
According to data from the Analysis Group, virtual reality could have an economic impact of $14.6 billion dollars by 2020. That figure even accounts for a low adoption rate from consumers. If the technology takes off with the mainstream, the group estimates that number could balloon to $126 billion.
“I anticipate that in five years, virtual reality will be as dominant as a mobile device,” Mr. Radziszewski said. “I believe that this will be in most households in five years once the price goes down.”
For Mr. Radziszewski and Mr. Waszak, the first challenge for their business was the initial cost to get the technology running.
Though the cost was high before their business could even get off the ground, Mr. Radziszewski said that cost was a main reason why they felt they needed to start RcadeVR in the first place.
“From the point of view of gaming, part of the reason why we’re here is because the technology is so expensive for regular consumers,” he said.
Each HTC Vive comes with a $700 price tag. Factor in the high-powered computers needed to run the hardware and the necessary software, those costs could rise as high as $3,000.
“Probably a year from now, there will be some innovations that could drive the price down, but right now, it’s expensive for the average consumer,” Mr. Waszak said.
Along with the high costs associated with starting the business, both men said the novel nature of virtual reality came with a set of challenges of its own, such as gaining zoning approvals from the municipality earlier this year.
“Even getting approvals from the township or the insurance, it’s hard because it’s so new,” Mr. Waszak said. “They don’t know how to deal with virtual reality.”
Mr. Radziszewski said the partners are forced to pay higher insurance premiums than expected because of how different their business is.
“We end up paying higher insurance premiums just because it’s new. Our business is nowhere near the same risk category as karate – you won’t break any bones and there’s no contact,” Mr. Radziszewski said. “The challenge is that you’re building a brand new business that doesn’t exist, so there aren’t any lessons learned as to how other places operate.”
That lack of knowledge has forced the two men to come up with their own solutions to problems that cropped up once multiple virtual reality stations started coming online.
“People try one Vive and it works well,” Mr. Waszak said. “Two Vives, in an open space, they collide and don’t work, so you have to separate the rooms and create the right angles for the laser tracking devices.” To combat those issues, the main play area has been divided into multiple 10-foot by10-foot play areas with partitions separating each location. To deal with the long cables attached to the headsets, they devised a three-pulley system to keep them out of the way of the player.
While gaming is currently the main focus of the business, RcadeVR has the potential to become a place to learn, the men said, as it could incorporate educational aspects to its virtual reality stations.
“We thought at the beginning that this would be just an arcade, but now we’re realizing that people want more than that,” Mr. Waszak said. “Parents don’t want to bring their teenagers just for games, because they’re already playing with their iPads and phones. They want other experiences.”
To that end, the business is looking into a number of options, including potentially reaching out to the Hillsborough Township Public School district to incorporate virtual reality into teachers’ lesson plans.
“We are in a 3D world, but we’re learning in 2D,” Mr. Radziszewski said.
Teachers have already come out to the business to check out the tech and the responses, Mr. Radziszewski said, were encouraging.
“In the case of biology, we loaded a title where you explored the body. In VR, you can start at the skin, zoom in, get inside and become part of the blood,” Mr. Radziszewski said. “The feedback we got from the teacher was that it was exactly what they wished they had to convey what they were teaching.”
Along with learning in the virtual space, the business is also looking into practical learning for students, including courses on coding, engineering and robotics.
“Coding is something that by 2025, the United States will be lacking in because they do not have enough coders and programmers,” Mr. Waszak said. “If kids are just going to go to college and do the courses there, they’ll still be behind. Here, they can get a taste for it earlier.”
Mr. Radziszewski said the business is constantly looking into other, more beneficial applications for virtual reality than just gaming, including training sessions for emergency personnel and trauma treatment for combat veterans.
According to a University of Southern California study, virtual reality can be used for therapy purposes. In one finding, an Iraq war veteran experienced a 56 percent decrease in symptoms for post-traumatic stress disorder up to six hours after returning to a virtual recreation of their traumatic experience.
“Good or bad,” Mr. Radziszewski said, “it’s up to us to create a positive direction for this technology.”
