There’s a new restaurant in town, and it’s serving General Tso’s with a side of virtual reality.
Kevin Xie, is the owner of Tiger VR Cafe, a virtual reality experience new to downtown Auburn.
The VR experience Xie offers his customers is far from passive. Instead of the usual headset, hand controls and feet firmly planted in reality and minds in the virtual, Tiger VR Cafe provides a VR omni-directional treadmill from KatVR. This technology allows users to duck, walk or jump through a variety of games.
For more experienced gamers, Xie suggests Battlefront, considered one of the top VR gaming experiences. For beginners, Xie has plenty of suggestions to try that are just as immersive and intense.
In Metal Assault, an arcade style shooter experience where players dodge bullets, hit explosive barrels and fight enemy combatants, players can expect to burn around 131 calories in 10 minutes of play.
The realistic combat paired with the ODT lets players freely move through the enemy stronghold, explore levels and fight other VR connected players all while trying to escape, Xie said.
Hunter Rickles is a student at Auburn University and acts as game master and professional strap adjuster.
“I’ve done VR before, but never where you could walk around,” Rickles said. “You feel like you’re really there. You turn around and it’s a full 360 degrees. It’s definitely unique and something a lot of people haven’t done.”
The cafe is busy on Saturdays and Sundays, but VR is something new to Auburn. Xie said he is afraid people are shy because they don’t know what it is.
Even Nikolaus Aspenleider, a new hire at Tiger VR Cafe, hasn’t plugged in yet. He applied to the job for the cafe’s Asian Popcorn Chicken.
“I haven’t done the VR but the food is awesome,” Aspenleider said.
Two years ago, Xie knew nothing about virtual reality. Then one of his friends who owned a VR company invited him to try it.
“I’m sitting there playing and at first I thought it was little games, like for kids,” Xie said. “But then I put the foot pads on and started running and it looked real and I had the gun shooting.”
From there Xie was hooked. He decided to combine his passion for food with his new love of VR and opened Tiger VR Cafe.
The cafe currently boasts one machine — which cost about $18,000. Xie said he plans to install two more next month.
According to a report by Grand View Research, the “global virtual reality in gaming market size is expected to reach USD 45.09 billion by 2025.” Key players in the industry are Microsoft Corp., Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. who all plan to launch VR-compatible game consoles.
Auburn may be slow on the uptake, but Xie said he’s betting on VR to take off in the Auburn community.
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