IMAX would open the first Virtual Reality (VR) center in Manchester, England by the end of the year. The VR Center will offer visitors a variety of interactive virtual-reality experiences.
In collaboration with Europe's biggest movie theater chain, IMAX will be opening its VR Center inside the theaters Odeon and UCI Cinema Group. Guests will be able to strap on a virtual reality headset and play video games in virtual reality or watch short 15-minute films. The VR gears will be provided by Stockholm-based entertainment technology company, Starbreez, and manufactured by Acer.
The VR Centers are at an experimental stage at the moment. Aside from Europe, the company is planning to open five more pilot centers by the end of the year including Los Angeles, Japan, China, Western Europe, and the Middle East. The pilot test is intended to help the company determine the pricing and the type of virtual reality content that customers are interested in.
Although several analysts say that there is not enough compelling content available to make virtual reality gears in demand, technology investors such as Google and Facebook have started paying close attention to the market.
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said during an interview with Variety that the company's experience in technology, along with the power of their brand and their solid relationships with various studios gives them the advantage to become the first to move to the virtual reality market.
Gelfond added during the interview that though the virtual reality center was still on its experimental stage, "I have no pretense - we don't have all the answers. I think it is going to evolve in its own way and I just hope we are part of the right way," he said.