I screamed at the realistic experience... I felt disappointed with the picture quality and response speed.

“When I went up on the swing, I felt really high and it was really scary,” said a participant in the jungle adventure booth, who often screamed, catching his breath. A participant in the jungle hang glider booth right next door, which was relatively quiet, expressed his disappointment, saying, “I was lying face down and just watching the screen, and the screen wasn’t smooth.” In addition, many people said that the VR attractions like the roller coaster and zip line were “fun,” but many also said that the “picture quality was disappointing” given the theme park’s emphasis on vividness.

In addition, game participants who used vibrators that vibrated when shooting guns or killing zombies gave favorable reviews, saying, “It’s fun because it feels like you’re actually moving around in the game world,” and “The vibrations increase the immersion in the game.” On the other hand, the reasons cited for the disappointing aspects included image quality, response speed, weight of the VR device, and delicate touch.



Existing VR rooms, featuring vibrator-based games, currently charge around 10,000 won per hour. We asked respondents what a reasonable price for a 30-minute VR attraction room, once filled with long lines, would be. About half of respondents said, "I'd go for 5,000 won," followed by prices under 10,000 won and 5,000 won. Participants also added, "The program is fun, but the image quality needs to be improved before it can be monetized."

About half of the respondents answered, “I would use it if it was 5,000 won.”

In addition to VR program developers and staff throughout the exhibition hall, we also encountered groups of students from schools who had visited the expo. One student from an IT high school expressed his anticipation for VR education, saying, "I think it would be fun to study if there were science programs where I could explore space or do challenging experiments, or history programs where I could learn about the past firsthand." While some expressed hope for more active VR safety education, which is still in its infancy, many still viewed VR as a game.


♦Top 5 Hottest Games

VR Expo introduced a reservation system to reduce inconvenience for participants. The system sends hourly notifications when you enter your phone number at a machine located at each booth. While reservations could only be made for one experience at a time, many booths were fully booked after noon, with wait times exceeding four hours. This demonstrates the high level of participation. Here are five of the most popular VR experiences.

Everland's T Express roller coaster has been brought to VR. The experience features 360-degree VR footage, a 360-degree rotation, and the added effects of wind and bumps. While you won't feel the weight of the ride as it descends, the long lines, perhaps due to the T Express's reputation, evoke a feeling of being in a real amusement park. In addition, Thirteenth Floor presented 'The Challenger', an automobile attraction where you can experience a racing race.

2 Jungle Adventure

Once on the swing, participants embark on a jungle adventure. The swing, which rises 3 meters in the video as they befriend monkeys and climb trees, descends sharply. Of course, when the video shows a fall, the swing also plummets. The gaze of those waiting in line follows the swing as it swings up and down, creating a scene reminiscent of an amusement park.

3 Mediafront's Jungle Hang Glider

The hang glider begins its flight, horizontally suspended. The video shows the jungle landscape below as you soar through the sky. This is a work by Media Front, like the Jungle Adventure introduced above, but instead of the hang glider moving like a swing, it is made more dynamic by the wind from the fan placed in front.

4 Insquare's <Room 206>

You'll sit on a vibrating chair and navigate a ruined mental hospital. You'll use a vibrator to solve puzzles one by one, progressing through the game with occasional horror scenes. The horror scenes, along with the vibrations that resonate through your hands and body, make it feel like "you're in a horror movie, even though you know it's happening," says a participant. Insquare also showcased Battle Squad, a two-player multiplayer gun game.

5. V-Studio's <Bolt: Chain City>

Ride a bike-shaped contraption and traverse space, deserts, and forests of buildings, trying to evade pursuit. Bolt: Chain City, which won an award in the animation category at VR FEST in Las Vegas last December, is not a game, but an animated film. From my own experience, it felt like stepping into an animated film like Avatar. The huge screen behind the bike played a VR video, captivating the attention of other participants.