East Coast's First 'Virtual Reality Arcade' Opens In MakeOffices Dupont Circle

DC-area residents looking to fight against a zombie apocalypse, defend a castle tower or just play some Fruit Ninja need look no further than MakeOffices' Dupont Circle location.

The co-working provider is partnering with virtual reality creator NotionTheory to open the East Coast's first virtual reality arcade in its Dupont Circle community. 

NotionTheory outfitted a former six-person office with black curtains and installed its high-end virtual reality technology to allow users to experience the tech without having to buy and set it up themselves. 

The games are free for MakeOffices members, but for $30/hour, anyone can rent out the room during its 9am-7pm operating hours and can play up to 14 different virtual reality games. 

NotionTheory founder Kristian Bouw says the company began pre-booking on Tuesday and 21 groups signed up in the first 24 hours.

To use this technology without the arcade, Kristian says it would cost at least $3k and require expertise to set up the system. His aim in creating an arcade people can rent out is to introduce the technology to a wider audience, most of whom are unaware of how far virtual reality has come.

"The current state of virtual reality already has all of the means necessary to completely trick the brain," Kristian told a packed room of people at a launch event Wednesday. "You’ll notice when you get in and start playing these games, the challenge is actually distinguishing virtual reality from reality."

The arcade set-up has a screen so others can see what the user is looking at. The user, however, has a completely immersive 360-degree experience. Above, Technical.ly DC's Tajha Chappellet-Lanier enjoys a game of Fruit Ninja.

MakeOffices chief marketing officer Shana Glenzer says NotionTheory reached out to some competing co-working providers to pitch the concept, but she responded right away with palpable excitement. Shana, who runs DC Tech Meetup, invited dozens of people in the tech community to come try it out Wednesday, but she hopes to expand the arcade's reach to the general public. 

"The goal is to have a place not just for techies," Shana says, "but for people like my mom and friends who don't understand virtual reality to toy around with a technology they wouldn't otherwise be able to." 

For now, the partnership is just a three-month trial run, but Kristian says the interest has already been "overwhelming," and he hopes to make the arcade permanent.