Dreamscape Immersive wants to bring location-based VR to the masses, starting with a shopping mall

Walk into the new Southern California flagship location for location-based VR company Dreamscape Immersive, and the sights and sounds of the bustling shopping center it’s located in quickly fade away. A large clock hangs over a wooden concierge desk, while a pair of monitors advertises “departure times” for the location’s trio of immersive experiences, using three-letter abbreviations that echo an airport more than a movie theater or arcade.The transition away from reality continues in the location’s waiting lounge, where physical artifacts from the worlds explored in titles like Alien Zoo and Lavan’s Magic Projector: The Lost Pearl await examination. The props set up backstories and plot details well before audiences get anywhere near a headset or backpack computer, and by the time guests are ushered into the gear-up rooms — designed to echo train cars, decked out in wood and soft overhead lighting — it’s tough to shake the feeling that you’re doing more than stepping into a virtual reality experience. This feels like a journey.It’s a thought-out, cohesive approach that pulls heavily from the lessons of modern-day theme park queue designs. And as Dreamscape readies an expansion into AMC movie theaters, the company hopes it will be one of the keys to selling a sometimes-skeptical public on the power of virtual reality.