At Sandbox VR, groups of up to six players engage in immersive virtual reality experiences ranging from family-friendly dinosaur encounters to shooting adventures to corporate team-building exercises.
Anil Nichenametla of Canton Twp., an IT product manager, launched the franchise of the ten-year-old entertainment company in June.
The father of children ages fifteen and nine says VR is for all ages, but especially appealing to teens. “When I went with my kids to Chicago, when [we] played this, they were so excited. They felt very happy about the experience.”
He reached out to the San Francisco headquarters and opted for an Ann Arbor opportunity because it’s “a very happening place,” he says. “Downtown is the right choice.”
While they accommodate drop-ins whenever possible, online reservations are recommended. A party room is available, and the entire facility—which includes a sizable lobby and four holodeck chambers—can also be reserved for special events.
Trailers help players choose among eleven exclusive experiences, including Deadwood Phobia, the most popular, and Squid Game Virtuals, inspired by the Netflix series.
Participants or a parent/guardian must sign a safety waiver and image release if not completed in advance. Employee guides provide an orientation and equip players with goggles, wrist and ankle sensors, and a vest for motion capture and haptics, or touch sensitivity. Headphones allow in-game communication. Some weapons-based games offer upgrades for more firepower.
After the half-hour experience, a video debriefing provides statistics and scores—there are location-specific and global leaderboards—and replays samples from the adventure and the players as they moved within the holodeck.
Most experiences are $57 per player, which may sound steep, but Nichenametla says his start-up costs easily scaled into seven-figure territory.
“We run like a data center in the location to get that kind of accuracy, to get that kind of experience,” he says. “No lag. For that you need a very high computing power.”
Sandbox VR, 215 E. Washington. (734) 263–2627. Mon.–Wed. noon–9:30 p.m., Thurs. 11 a.m.–10 p.m., Fri.–Sun. 10 a.m.–midnight. sandboxvr.com/annarbor
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