Nomadic’s Arizona Sunshine is an impressive step in location-based VR’s evolution

We’re at the point now where it typically takes a lot to really ‘Wow!’ me with VR. After covering the industry heavily for almost three years, I’ve seen and played a lot. But after I took off the headset and became reacquainted with the real world around me, one thing was clear: Nomadic made me literally say “Wow!” after it was over. I haven’t been this impressed with anything in VR since the first time I tried the technology via room-scale experiences years ago.What makes Nomadic so special is how interactive everything is. The experience I played was based on Arizona Sunshine, one of the most popular VR games to date that pits you against hordes of zombies. It took place inside a series of small rooms that were arranged like a maze in the real world, but skinned to resemble things like trains, helicopters, elevators, and more inside VR. It’s the closest I’ve come yet to truly tricking my brain.Nomadic is a VR experiences company founded by people that have a history of work in Hollywood at companies like Industrial Light and Magic on Star Wars films, as well as ImageMoversDigital as part of Disney. What sets Nomadic apart from its competitors, such as The Void, is that it’s designed to be much more modular and adaptable. While the bulk of what makes Nomadic so special resides in its interactivity and physicality, the real brains of it all is on the software side.