Sandbox VR offers an immersive, interactive and blockbuster action movie, virtual reality experience

While Meta and other companies create virtual and augmented realities online, Sandbox VR brings an immersive metaverse experience to a place near you. The Hong Kong and Silicon Valley-based company, founded by CEO Steve Zhao, has created technology that makes you feel like you’re in a blockbuster action movie.

The experience takes place in a retail environment, as opposed to the Internet. Think back to when you played laser tag with friends as a kid, then add massive high definition steroids with Hollywood glare and 3D action.

The idea is for friends and families to go to a local mall, gear up with the right gear, and have an Avengers-like adventure in virtual reality. The tech company combines “sophisticated real-time motion capture with virtual reality technology to create new media that’s the closest thing to reality.” star trek holodeck who exist. Sandbox VR delivers it to your neighborhood—coming soon.

The holodeck derived from star trek, who used holograms – projected light and electromagnetic energy that create the illusion of solid objects – to create a realistic 3D simulation of everything you would like to see. Participants in this experience interact with the environment, as well as with objects and characters, follow a set scenario or continue their own journey. The Sandbox experience can be considered a “better” reality, compared to other forms of virtual reality. It’s an experience where you can be whatever you want to be and go wherever you want.

The company started in a cramped office in a nondescript neighborhood, with little money and a small team. Like many startups, there have been challenges and setbacks. At one point, Zhao thought he might not be able to build his dream business. About a company building a virtual reality action adventure on the big screen, a chance conversation changed his life and that of Sandbox VR.

Out of luck, feeling he would never turn his dream into virtual reality, he had a chance encounter with someone who changed his life. Zhao said he ran into a guy who said, “I heard you playing games. If you make VR games, I will invest in you. I can also get my friends to invest in you. Writing on his blog, Zhao said of this fortuitous event, “Is this real life? Is it just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality,” quoting words from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

Receiving funding from the person, as well as Zhao’s savings, money collected from family, friends and acquaintances, he believed that this concept could actually come to fruition. They started building a retail space to showcase the enhanced VR action experience.

Over time, Sandbox VR has developed “real-time multiplayer inverse kinematics technology to capture, animate, and render people with full-body motion capture in virtual reality.” It became a hit, as TripAdvisor’s #1 activity in Hong Kong. Now, in a Sandbox VR theater, you can enjoy a full-body, 30-minute virtual reality experience on the loose.

Once again adversity struck. VR theater looked like it could be crushed by the Covid-19 outbreak. People had to socially distance and congregate in places like VR sandboxLocation-based virtual reality experiences just weren’t going to happen. The company had to seek Chapter 11 protection.

Zhao’s story can be related to your career and job search. Asked about all the difficulties he encountered on his journey, Zhao said, “Failure was not an option.” He knew he had to do whatever it took. Zhao shared his mindset on how to prevail, which you can also model. It “works backwards”. This means that Zhao first looks to the future, visualizing his long-term goal. Then, the tech CEO traces the steps needed to get there. For example, when the pandemic caused his retail movie theater operations to shut down, he had to act. When he asked owners for breaks, they said they too were suffering from the virus outbreak and were considering filing for bankruptcy. Although not in the plans, Zhao also went that route.

Zhao and the team hunkered down as people were sheltering at home and not venturing out, especially in a place where you couldn’t social distance and had to wear a head covering. They were aware of every step they were taking to save money, stay afloat, and think about how to rebuild. Fortunately, they booked events in advance. About 90% of customers have already paid for their tickets, which provided a cushion and some time to wait out the pandemic.

Perseverance, not giving up in the face of adversity, imagining your future, and reverse engineering all the steps necessary to get you where you want to go can apply to your job search or career advancement.

This mindset helped Zhao steer his company out of bankruptcy proceedings, which led to the reopening of all of his locations, including a high-profile space in Las Vegas. Venture capitalists and investors have stepped in with a “significant Series A round fundraising led by Andre Chen from Andreessen Horowitzwith the participation of Mike Maples and Floodgate, Stanford University, TriplePoint Capital, CRCM and Ali Baba.” The funding will VR sandbox plans to expand to locations around the world.