Given the censorship, authoritiarianism and rampant consumerism, Aldous Huxley’s vision of the future in Brave New World was a mostly terrifying one.
Feelies, though? Those interactive, uber-sensory movie theaters that made everything happy and nothing hurt? We’d try it. And it sounds like they’ve arrived.
IMAX just opened its first virtual reality theater across from The Grove (aka the Disneyland of L.A. shopping centers). The mansion-esque building is kind of hiding in plain site, and we’d wager dollars to donuts that most Angelenos will drive by without paying it any mind. That may change. Despite calling it a theater, this spot is a Huxely-esque group pleasure center, with 14 “pods” where users strap on VR headsets to play seven different immersive games.
There’s the shoot-em-up John Wick. The lightsaber battles of Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine. You can even relive Philippe Petit’s epic tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in The Walk.
Your L.A. correspondent is planning his trip as we speak. IMAX is planning to roll these out across the world, too.
See you on the flip side.
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