San Diego Comic-Con is well underway, and it appears our friends over at VR Scout got a chance to try out one of the coolest looking VR activations there. The upcoming Amazon Prime TV series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, which is set to air next month, was the impetus of what can only be described as the most epic VR park installations we’ve seen recently.
Outfitted with a backpack mounted PC, a modified Oculus Rift, hand and foot trackers, and a repelling harness, VR Scout’s Jonathan Nafarrete got a chance to play the part of Jack Ryan, the series’ field operative protagonist, as he rappelled from a helicopter, braved death-defying heights, shot down insurgents, zip-lined to safety, and drove a motion platform-assisted personnel vehicle the hell out of there.
Much like VR parks such as The Void, physical objects like crates and walls are perfectly matched to their virtual counterparts in-headset, giving the user an extra layer of immersion that only location-based facilities have been able to replicate. VR Scout reports the Jack Ryan VR activation took up a 60,000 sq ft (~5,500 sq m) area.
Costumed attendants play the part, and guide Nafarrete through the VR experience. While it’s clear Nafarrete can only hear his guides and can’t actually see them, it certainly makes for an awesome spectacle for any of the Comic-Con goers waiting in line for their chance at what Nafarrete called “another level” above other location-based VR parks.
If anything, Jack Ryan’s Comic-Con VR Park is an awesome demonstration on how to combine VR with multiple physical elements to create something more than the sum of its parts. We’re hoping other park owners take notice, as the bar for heart-pumping VR immersion appears to have been set just a bit higher.
The Jack Ryan VR Park is available for con attendees for the duration of the San Diego Comic-Con, which takes place July 19th to July 22nd.
Check out Nafarrete’s full hands-on experience at VR Scout.