When Jeff Trinh-Sy first tried out virtual reality with some of his neighbors, it was, well, an eye-opening experience.
"I put the headset on and I instantly thought this was going to change everything — it's going to be the future of industry," said Trinh-Sy, who teaches physics, astronomy and robotics at the Blake School in Minneapolis.
It made him wonder why more people weren't obsessed — or at least interested — in the emerging technology. So he decided to help make it his mission to help expose more people to it.
In October, he quietly opened the first virtual reality lounge in the Twin Cities. Voxel Virtual Reality Parlour also is among the first crop of such businesses around the country bringing the new technology to the masses.
The 1,500-square-foot space is in the same building as Lake Monster Brewing in St. Paul. It has three bays that patrons can rent out by the hour by themselves or with a group of friends. Each room can fit three to four people.
Inside each bay, customers take turns using an HTC Vive headset and can pick from 15 to 20 experiences. Trinh-Sy updates the list every month to add the newest releases. But some of the options include first-person shooter games, strategy and puzzle games, or immersive experiences that put you on top of a mountain or floating in space. On a screen in each room, friends can sit and watch what the person using the headset is seeing, too.
"I was expecting to just be catering to gamers," he said. "But it's been a wide cross-section of people — people who are interested in a new type of experience or something new to do rather just going to the movies or to a concert."
The response has been so positive that the shop, which initially was just open on Friday nights and Saturdays, has expanded its hours to include evenings from Sunday through Thursday. Trinh-Sy has hired five part-time employees to help staff the space since he and his business partner, Matt Tande, a lawyer, have their own day jobs.
A lot of people have been finding out about Voxel through social media or through Google searches. It's also become a popular place for office or birthday parties, with revelers renting out the entire space. The shop sells some snacks, such as popcorn, chips and soda. It's not unusual for customers to stop by before or after hitting the brewery next door.
"We wanted it to be a group experience," Trinh-Sy said. "There's something very special about having this life-changing experience and being able to share it with other people."
While virtual reality was one of the most hyped new technologies last year, it still hasn't managed to break through to the mainstream. Some hurdles: the price of higher-end headsets, a lack of compelling content and the complexity of the equipment required to run it. The cheaper headsets that use smartphones as their screens are more limited in what they can do.
On top of that, people are warned they could get dizzy or sick during experiences that simulate riding roller coasters or dropping out of planes. But Trinh-Sy said he hasn't had any problems with that yet.
So why would people go to Voxel instead of trying out virtual reality at home?
The HTC Vive headsets Voxel uses run $800 apiece. And attached to them are higher-end computers than most people have at home, he said.
"People don't want to necessarily buy and maintain their own equipment," he added. "In six to seven months, this equipment we're using will probably be obsolete."
So Voxel will keep updating its gear as the market evolves.
The lounge charges customers $35 an hour if you reserve the space for yourself. It costs about $20 to $25 per person if you share it with friends.
Voxel is no longer the only place to check out VR around the Twin Cities. An adult arcade called Smaaash opened late last year on the fourth level of the Mall of America and offers some virtual reality experiences in addition Go-Karts and other games.
Similar VR lounges are beginning to take off around the world. "They're really popping up in Asia," Trinh-Sy said. "There's a bunch in Hong Kong, a bunch in China."
Voxel is a part of Blue River Technologies, a Minneapolis-based software and hardware firm that Trinh-Sy co-founded last summer. For now, he is focusing more on the virtual reality lounge, but hopes to eventually leverage the space as a place to test out some new experiences Blue River might create.
In the meantime, he's been talking to other tech firms that are interested in using Voxel as a space to test out their own software. And if all goes well, he is considering opening more Voxel locations.
Kavita Kumar • 612-673-4113
