The Diplomat, a blue fox with empathetic eyes and a gentle demeanor, greeted me as I strolled through Interstellar Arc, a new virtual reality attraction created by Felix & Paul Studios at Area15 in Las Vegas. It's a futuristic experience that begins at a 25th century spaceport and from there transports guests to the 27th
century aboard an enormous interstellar ship.
The fox was a comforting presence within my VR headset as it guided me to walk here, linger there and gaze everywhere to experience a mesmerizing journey to another world.
Among the things I saw from the ship was Arcadia, an exoplanet more than 11 light years away suitable to be humanity's next home, and Cosmopolis, a sprawling orbital city. VR images showed my companions in spacesuits. Details of our spaceship and landscapes of Arcadia were crisply rendered and often breathtaking. The soundtrack was soothing and the messages inspirational.
"The ambition of the vision just felt like a perfect fit for Las Vegas," said creator Felix Lajeunesse of Felix & Paul Studios when I talked to him a week after my visit. "There was a perfect alignment between what [Area15 was] trying to build holistically as this entertainment district and what we wanted to accomplish -- creating this large-scale, location-based VR show."
Felix & Paul Studios has been working with VR for about 13 years, Lajeunesse said. What started as three- to four-minute cinematic experiences designed for one person at home has dramatically evolved into Interstellar Arc's social environment, which can accommodate as many as 180 guests at a time in a richly detailed, 60-minute voyage.
"[Guests] can interact with each other," Lajeunesse said. "It layers on top of the story a bunch of interactive features. It mixes physical reality with virtual reality. You can, for example, 'see' railings in the VR experience but also touch them because they're present in the physical world."
A blue fox named the Diplomat serves as a kind of tour guide at Interstellar Arc, a new virtual reality attraction at Area15. Photo Credit: Felix & Paul Studios
My virtual journey
I was able to activate a virtual camera on my right wrist to take up to 30 photos and selfies (which were emailed to me later). I spoke into a virtual microphone on my left wrist to communicate with my colleagues through their headsets.
I identified elements and interacted with the story to collect achievement points to demonstrate my exoplanet readiness. But no task was urgent, and I was told I could collect more points in subsequent visits. Images of daunting ramps turned out to be comfortable strides, and my acrophobia never emerged when I appeared to defy gravity.
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"We've been evolving the language of how you tell the story in virtual reality, how you can articulate a narrative and take viewers on an emotional experience. ... From the technological standpoint, the hardware and the software capabilities today are so much evolved compared to what they were 13 years ago."
The studio previously produced a four-part VR documentary series "Space Explorers: The ISS Experience," filmed aboard the International Space Station in cinematic virtual reality, and "Space Explorers: The Infinite," its first location-based VR experience that lets visitors explore the ISS and get a sense of life in orbit. That show has toured cities worldwide, including Montreal; Edmonton, Alberta; Charlotte, N.C.; and Singapore.
Adults tend to focus on the story's substance, while younger audiences engage with it in a more interactive and playful way, Lajeunesse said.
"By the end of the show ... they have followed the same journey, but they have not processed it or experienced it the same way," he said.
The lobby of Interstellar Arc features information about the VR voyage to the 27th century. Photo Photo Credit: Felix & Paul Studios
Sagan's inspiration
Felix & Paul Studios consulted with the estate of famed astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan on Interstellar Arc's development. Sagan's likeness appears as the Librarian, who serves as a link to Earth's history, sharing humanity's scientific, cultural and artistic heritage.
Sagan considered the near future and the far future, projecting his imagination forward: "Science as a way to inspire not just the present but also a better future," Lajeunesse said. "It's a point where science meets fiction, the points where reality meets imagination, and that's something that we found truly inspiring in his work."
At the end of my journey, I felt optimism, a renewed appetite for exploration (and, simply, travel) and the sense we're all in this together.
The creators' vision
"I want people to feel hope. I want people to feel inspired. I want people to feel a sense of awe and wonder for possibilities ahead," Lajeunesse said. "There are reasons to dream about the future in a very positive way and in a way that feels limitless." We tend to be stuck on Earth with our earthly considerations, and rightfully so, but think about the possibilities of the universe, how incredibly vast it is, and how little we know about it at this point in time."
Tickets start at $54 (plus tax and fees) for adults and $39 for children ages 8 to 12. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at Area15. Interstellar Arc is only available in English but can still be enjoyed by non-English speakers; subtitles in other languages are planned to be added.
UPDATED: This report was updated on Dec. 2 at 11:35 a.m. Eastern time to add information on Felix & Paul Studios' "Space Explorers" series.
CORRECTION: This report was updated on Dec. 2 at 3:15 p.m. Eastern to include correct images throughout.