A giant robot looms over the outskirts of Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province in China. The new VR park, named simply ‘Oriental Science Fiction Valley‘, has now opened its doors; within them reside a bevy of VR attractions and rides that hope to capitalize on China’s steadily growing VR industry.
Update (04/30/18): A new English-language CGTN report has surfaced via German VR publication MIXED detailing yesterday’s opening of China’s giant VR theme park. The video is posted below.
Contrary to the Reuters report, the CGTN report contends the park is in fact the result of a ¥3B (~$470M USD) investment and not the previously reported $1.5B USD investment. We’ve corrected the headline and clarified the original article which follows below.
Original article (11/27/17): As reported by Reuters, the massive VR park spans 330 acres (134 hectares) and houses within its various sci-fi-inspired buildings 35 different VR attractions—including everything from shooters, virtual roller coasters, to guided spaceship tours of the region’s most scenic spots.
Its organizers have already spent $1.5 billion $470 million creating the park, and while it features a few non-VR attractions such as bungee jumping (from the arm of the robot), most rides will use some combination of VR headsets and motion platforms.
Occupying one of the poorest provinces in China, the park aims to revitalize the area when it partially opens February next year.
“After our attraction opens, it will change the entire tourism structure of Guizhou province as well as China’s southwest,” Chief Executive Chen Jianli told Reuters.
“This is an innovative attraction, because it’s just different,” Jianli said.