Ladies and Gentleman, the future has arrived and you can now experience it first hand at Jump Into The Light, located in Bowery and E 4th st, New York.
As I was walking down Bowery, I passed by a store with all glass doors and light beaming through. As a lover of lights, of course, I had to go in. Inside were a few computers with some chairs and some very big goggles on top of these chairs. Extremely intrigued, I asked what this was all about and it was then that I found out about a little treasure this city holds.
Jump Into The Light is the first virtual reality cinema and play lab in America! Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors. This place has made it their goal to provide their visitors with the best possible experience offering all kinds of movies, clips, games and even the option to get yourself printed in virtual reality.
There are three different stations one can go to when visiting Jump Into The Light. The first station is the cinema, where one is invited to sit on a chair, place on headphones and the Samsung VR gear. You have the option to let the recordings play or navigate to find a video of your liking. Whether you choose to travel through different cities of the world, watch animations, scary movies or anything else you can imagine, they do not fail in completely transporting you to the world. I personally love traveling, I love the excitement of discovering a new place, new culture, new landscapes. One of the clips that began to play was taken on a helicopter, going over all kinds of different landscapes and boy was I astounded. Not only was I observing beauty I had never seen before but I was observing it in a way that allowed me to feel like I was experiencing it first hand. As I looked up, I saw the sky, the clouds moving. As I moved my head down, I saw the mountains, the sea. I could move my head and body all over to get a completely view of my surroundings without letting a detail pass me by.
The second station is a little more playful. One sits down and puts on the goggles once again. There is a little fellow on the screen that guides you through this game. Here, your hand motions are transported into the screen. You are taught how to move and create shapes, you can even make them levitate. As simple as the game might sound, that fact that you are able to play with air and make things appear is pretty magical and makes you want to keep on playing!
The third station, situated all the way to back, is a green screen room where you can now use your whole body for the games! There are two options, you can choose to shoot some zombies or be creative and make some art.
If you choose to shoot the zombies, be aware that it is a bit scary. You are in a tunnel with zombies coming at you and you have to move around to make sure there isn’t one coming to get you from the back. I even let out a little scream.
If you choose to paint a little, then the world is literally your canvas. There are infinite options of settings with which to paint. You can be painting on a white space, on the Galaxy, you can paint with fire of different colors, or bubbles. You can create anything your mind desire and walk through your creations. Your painting can be surrounding you fully, all it takes is for you to be create and move around a little, VR does the rest.
I could go on and on about this place because it is truly something else, but I also don’t want to take away from your own unique experience. This place is incredible not only for its content but also for the creative minds that have collaborated to make this happen. If you want to feel part of something new, I highly encourage you to pay a visit to Jump Into The Light, you will NOT be disappointed.
For more information and tickets: http://jumpintothelight.com/
