Sandbox VR to Launch New VR Star Trek Games in Locations Around the World

Star Trek fans will soon be able to experience an interactive VR experience for themselves, without needing to own a VR system.

Variety reported recently that the San Francisco-based startup Sandbox VR has announced a new location-based VR Star Trek game called Star Trek: Discovery Away Mission, which will be available in locations around the world later this year.

Featuring the voice talents of Mary Wiseman as Ensign Sylvia Tilly, the VR experience lasts for about 30 minutes and you can play with up to 5 other people. During the mission, players will investigate a distress signal from a lost starship, an adventure that takes them, among other places, to an ice moon. President and chief product officer of Sandbox VR, Siqi Chen, explained how the company was inspired by Star Trek: “We wanted to make a 0.1 version of the holodeck,” he said.

According to Variety, the experience focuses more on collective problem-solving than combat scenarios, and differs from other VR operators like The Void because it uses full-body motion capture and puts less emphasis on physical cues. Players will be able to see themselves - and their friends - in VR.

Star Trek: Discovery Away Mission is expected to be available in Sandbox VR’s existing locations in the San Francisco Bay area, Hong Kong and LA later this year, with locations in New York, Austin, San Diego and Chicago to follow. The cost of the experience hasn’t been published yet, but a Saturday booking for 6 guests for the Deadwood Mansion experience at their San Mateo location came to $48.00 per person.

Sandbox VR plans to have a total of 16 locations up and running around the world by the end of the year, fueled in part by a $68 million round of Series A funding earlier this year.