I tried virtual reality for the first time at Rutgers

There’s nothing better than abandoning our real lives and going straight to an alternate universe. That’s exactly what took place at 9 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the Rutgers Zone in the Livingston Student Center.  Starting at 8:30pm there was already a line extending out of the door with students eager to test out virtual reality experiences. Dozens of Rutgers students came together for a night filled with music, free food (including some bomb spinach and artichoke dip), free drinks and of course, virtual reality.

Amusitronix, the company who provided the virtual reality experience, had many different simulations to choose from including skydiving, a roller coaster rides, scuba diving and even, an interactive Star Wars game.

I ventured onto the roller coaster; I strapped on my goggles and my head set and was transported into a new world. It started off pretty slowly and I could feel my heart start to race. I had never experienced virtual reality before, and was unsure of what to expect. There were 360 degree vision and I was able to check out the excited faces of the people behind me, and see how beautiful the day was before the fast paced ride commenced. The crazy part is that I knew it wasn’t real; I just couldn’t control my excitement and emotions. I had to compose myself because there were people around and it’s generally not acceptable to start screaming in public. I was also extremely dizzy at the end of it so that added to the experience.

Aside from the virtual reality there was also pool, car racing games, indoor basketball (I scored 10 which I thought was impressive until I realized it was two points per basket), skee ball and many more arcade style games. All the games were set to free play mode so the fun was in abundance. The large screens were playing one of my favorite movies ever, ‘Save the Last Dance’ with Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas.

While some people who were well versed in the art of virtual reality felt that the focus of the goggles hindered the enjoyment of the experience and the audio could have been a little better, the general reviews were very positive and people seemed happy to be there.

Philip Chambers, the Associate Director of Off Campus and Community Partnerships and today’s Program Coordinator, came up with the idea and put the whole event together. He hadn’t seen this before happening on campus and thought that students would enjoy it since it’s a new and interesting way of gaming.