Media-based attractions specialists Cavu Designwerks and videogame development studio One Bit Labs have teamed up to form DreamCraft Attractions – a new company dedicated to creating cutting-edge ride systems featuring virtual reality.

Coming together to create ‘the first premier VR ride experience’, DreamCraft combines the traditional dark ride experience with VR, using the ever-advancing technology to create a state-of-the-art experience.

“In 2015 we attended IAAPA to see what kind of VR products were out there, and we found a number of things lacking in what we saw,” said Glen Schulz, technical art director at DreamCraft, speaking to Attractions Management.

“With most VR experiences, when you put the headset on you are alone, you don’t see yourself. You’re just a floating camera in this world. Our technology allows you to see yourself inside the experience. We have sensors that detect your body movements. If you lift your hands you can see your characters hands. You can also see your friends and family so social is another big aspect of VR we’re addressing – you’re not alone in this experience.”

DreamCraft’s ride technology, which currently uses the HTC Vive headset, also allows each rider to dictate where they go virtually in the ride rather than have a pre-rendered movie experience. Using a six degree of freedom (6DOF) motion platform, a prototype experience created by DreamCraft currently allows riders to fly on dragons, with each rider able to control their own beast.

“Depending on the client we can customise the experience for the park,” said Schulz. “Whether it's a specific IP and then whether that IP is more of a cartoony nature or photo realistic, we can modify the content to reflect that. It’s not a specific ride experience, it’s completely customisable.”

The company last week named Vernon McGugan, who has more than 40 years combined experience at Universal and Disney, as the company’s CEO. DreamCraft’s technology will get its first public outing at an unnamed theme park in China, with the under-development installation opening in 2018.